Carrying A King′s Child
Carrying A King's Child
Katherine Garbera
One night leads to the pregnancy surprise of a lifetime in this novel from USA TODAY bestselling author Katherine Garbera…Tapped to become king of his family’s ancestral homeland, hotshot Miami businessman Rafe Montoro needs a break from the pressure. A night with Key West bartender Emily Fielding is just the ticket—until weeks later, when she shows up pregnant!Emily wants her child know its father, though as an “unsuitable commoner,” she doesn’t want to block Rafe’s ascent to the throne. Still, there’s that unrelenting chemistry between them that won’t be denied. Will Rafe have to choose between love and country after all?
“What are we going to do?” he asked at last.
Emily pushed away from him and walked over to the window. He knew the view she was afforded from the window. This place had been hard-earned. He’d worked just as hard as his siblings to make Montoro Enterprises into the success it was today.
“I just wanted you to know. Beyond that I don’t need anything. Someday the kid is going to ask about you—”
“Someday? I’m going to be a part of this,” Rafe said.
“I don’t see how. You’re going to be jetting off to Alma to take the throne. My life is here. The baby’s life will be here.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. The timing on this sucked. But he didn’t blame Emily. He’d been running when he went to Key West, afraid to admit that he was in over his head. He was the oldest son. He was Rafael the Fourth, the future king. He should be in command all the time. But the truth was he was lost.
And somehow in Emily’s arms he’d found something.
* * *
Carrying a King’s Child is part of the series Dynasties: The Montoros—One royal family must choose between love and destiny!
Carrying a King’s Child
Katherine Garbera
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
KATHERINE GARBERA is a USA TODAY bestselling author of more than fifty books and has always believed in happy endings. She lives in England with her husband, children and their pampered pet, Godiva. Visit Katherine on the web at katherinegarbera.com (http://katherinegarbera.com), or catch up with her on Facebook and Twitter.
This book is for my Facebook posse who are always willing to chat about hot guys, good reads and the general craziness of life.
Contents
Cover (#u485f87e1-e9d6-50a4-b1ff-ed988d9ec8da)
Introduction (#u0040450c-3759-506e-8a2e-9c3dba450d93)
Title Page (#uf583a6bf-66bc-535b-b31a-a442b4b22a1a)
Dedication (#u054c0203-2424-5c1d-8e90-87cdb8776588)
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
One (#ud4afa1ee-3426-5d08-b5d6-7090015dc2e2)
Emily Fielding was shaking as she stepped off the elevator into the foyer of Rafael Montoro IV’s penthouse in South Beach. The Montoros had settled in Miami, Florida, decades ago, when as the royal family of Alma, they had to flee their European island homeland because of a coup. Now the dictator who’d replaced them was dead and the parliament of Alma wanted the Montoros back.
With Rafe as king.
Great. Happy ending for everyone. Well, everyone except for Emily, the bartender who was pregnant with the soon-to-be-king’s baby. Or at least that was what her gut told her. Her gut and three home pregnancy tests. She wasn’t easy to convince.
She had debated not telling Rafe about the baby, but having grown up without knowing who her father was, she just couldn’t do that to her own child. Sure, she’d had to lie to get up here to his very posh penthouse apartment, and she knew her timing sucked because Rafe had a lot of royal duties to attend to before his coronation, but she was still here.
Getting past security hadn’t been that easy, but she’d made a few calls to friends and found that one of them had a connection to Rafe via a maid service. So she’d used Maria’s pass to get into the gated community and her key to get into his building.
Sneaking around wasn’t her style. Normally. But nothing about this situation was normal.
She was shaking as she stood on the Italian marble floor and let the air-conditioning dry the sweat at the small of her back. Luxurious and well appointed, the apartment was exactly the sort of place where she expected to find Rafe. His family might have fled Alma in the middle of the night, but they’d brought their dignity and their determination with them to the United States and this generation of Montoros had truly flourished.
Rafe was the CEO of Montoro Enterprises. He had been featured in Forbes long before the recent developments in Alma. He’d earned the wealth she saw around him, and the fact that he played as hard as he worked was something she could respect. She played hard, too.
She forced herself not to touch her stomach. Not to draw attention to the one thing that changed everything. Since she’d looked at that stick in the bathroom and realized she was going to have a baby, everything had changed.
Pretending that there was more to her visit than ensuring that her child would know who its father was would be stupid. A wealthy businessman she could have had a shot with, she thought. But not a king.
Still...
She’d seen photos of Alma. With its white sand beaches and castle that looked like something out of a dream, it was a beautiful place. The kind of place that she might have dreamed about as a little girl. A fairy-tale kingdom with a returning prince. Sounded perfect, right?
Except that Rafael Montoro IV was a playboy and they’d had a fling. She wrinkled her nose as she tried to come up with something else to call it, but a two-night stand didn’t cover it, either. One weekend spent in each other’s arms. She could lose herself in the memories if she wasn’t careful.
Hell, she hadn’t been careful. Which was precisely why she was here. Pregnant and determined. She walked down the hallway toward the sounds of Jay-Z playing in the distance. She paused in the doorway of his bedroom.
She’d had to charm her way upstairs, but no way could this wait another moment. Rafe needed to know before he left. She needed to tell him.
She felt queasy and swallowed hard.
There were right and wrong ways to deliver this news, and as appealing to her sense of outrage as it would be to throw up on his carpet, she was hoping for a little sophistication. Just a tiny bit.
After all, she’d seen pictures of his sister and jet-setting mother, though his mother wasn’t really in the picture since her divorce from Rafe III. Still she was an elegant woman.
She cleared her throat.
She listened to Jay-Z and Kanye West singing about how there’s no church in the wild. She almost laughed out loud as she watched Rafe stop packing his suitcase and start to rap along. She leaned against the doorjamb and admitted her anger was really fear. She wasn’t mad at him. She just wanted him to be a different kind of guy so that she could have the fairy tale she wanted.
Not a castle and a title, but a man who loved her. A man who wanted to share his life with her and raise children by her side.
And no matter how fun Rafe was, his path lay somewhere else. He was duty-bound to become the constitutional monarch of Alma. She was determined to return to Key West and live out her life. She wasn’t interested in being involved with a royal; besides, she’d read in the papers that the heirs would have to marry people with spotless reputations.
He was really getting into dancing around the room and rapping.
She applauded when he finished and he turned to look at her.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, shock apparent on his face.
His body was tense. She suspected he was a tiny bit embarrassed to be caught rapping. Nerves made her mouthy. She knew that. So she should just say she was sorry for using her friend’s key to get into his penthouse.
But that wasn’t her way.
“Hello to you, too, Your Majesty. Should I curtsy or something? I’m not sure of the rules.”
“Neither am I,” he admitted. “Juan Carlos doesn’t like it when I am seen doing something...well, so American but also undignified.”
“Your secret is safe with me,” she said. “Who is Juan Carlos?”
“Juan Carlos Salazar II, my cousin, head of the Montoro Family Trust and advocate of decorum at all times.”
“He sounds like a stuffed shirt,” she said. “I doubt I’d meet with his approval.”
“Emily, what are you doing here? And how did you get up here? Security is usually very hard to get past.”
“I have my ways.”
“And they are?” he asked.
“My charm,” she said.
He shook his head. “I’m going to have to warn them about feisty redheads.”
“I actually used a key that I procured from your maid service.”
“You’ve been reduced to criminal behavior. Curiouser and curiouser. Why are you here? Did you decide that you wanted to give me a proper send-off?” he asked. He strode over to her, his big body moving with an economy of motion that captivated her. The same way it had when she’d first glimpsed him in the crowded Key West bar where she worked as a bartender.
He was tall—well over six feet—and muscly, but he moved with grace and she could honestly watch him all day long.
“Why are you here, Red? You said goodbye was forever.”
Goodbye.
She’d meant it when he’d left. He was a rich guy from Miami and experience had shown her they were only in Key West for one thing. Having given it to him she’d wanted to ensure she didn’t give into temptation a second time.
“I did mean it.”
“Help me, Red. I don’t want to jump to conclusions,” he said.
She chewed her lower lip. Up close she could see the flecks of green in his hazel eyes.
He was easily one of the most attractive men she’d ever seen. He’d make a killing in Hollywood with those thick eyelashes and those cheekbones. It wouldn’t matter if he could act, just putting him on screen would draw the masses in.
She wished she were immune.
“I’m pregnant.”
He stumbled backward and looked at her as if she’d just started speaking in tongues.
* * *
Pregnant!
He stepped back and walked over to the Bose speaker on the dresser to turn off the music. A baby. From what he knew of the tough-as-nails-bartender, he could guess she wouldn’t be standing in his penthouse apartment if he wasn’t the father. His first reaction was joy.
A child.
It wasn’t something he’d ever thought he wanted. He hardly knew Emily so had no idea if she was here for money or something else. But knowing his child was growing inside of her stirred something primal. Something very powerful. The baby was his.
Maybe that was just because it gave him something to think about other than the recent decision that had been made for him.
He’d been dreading his trip to Alma. He was flattered that the country that had once driven his family out had come back to them and asked him to be the next king, but he had grown up here in Florida. He didn’t want to be a stuffy royal.
He didn’t want European paparazzi following him around and trying to catch him doing anything that would bring shame to his family. God, knew he worked and played hard.
“Rafe?”
“Yeah?”
“Did you hear what I said?” Emily asked.
He had. A baby. Lord knew his father hadn’t been the best and as a result, Rafe had thought he’d never have kids. It wasn’t as if either of his parents had set a great example. And he was still young, but damn if he wasn’t feeling much older every day.
“Yeah, I did. Are you sure?” he asked at last.
She gave him a fiery look from those aqua-blue eyes of hers. He’d seen the passionate side of her nature, and he guessed he was about to witness her temper. “Would I be here if I wasn’t?”
He held his hand up.
“Slow down, Red. I didn’t mean are you sure it’s mine. I meant...are you sure you’re pregnant?”
“Damned straight.”
“I get it. I had to take three at-home pregnancy tests and visit the doctor before I believed it myself. But trust me, Rafe. I’m positive I’m pregnant and that the baby is yours.”
“This is a little surreal,” he said.
“I know,” she said, with just a hint of softening on in her tone. “Listen, I know you can’t turn your back on your family and marry me and frankly, we only had one weekend together so I’d have to say no. But...I don’t want this kid to grow up without any knowledge of you.”
“Me either.”
She glanced up, surprised.
To be honest, he sort of surprised himself. But he knew all the things not to do as a dad thanks to his own father. It didn’t seem right for a kid of his to grow up without him. He wanted that. If he had a child, he wanted a chance to share the Montoro legacy...not the one newly sprung on him that came with a throne, but the one he’d carved out for himself in business. “Don’t look shocked.”
“You’ve kind of got a lot going on right now. And having a kid with me isn’t going to go over well.”
“Tough,” he said. He still wasn’t sure he wanted to be king of Alma. He and his siblings hadn’t grown up with the attitude that they were royalty. They were regular American kids who’d never expected to go back to Alma. “I still make my own decisions.”
“I know that,” she said. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ve just been so crazy since I realized I was pregnant and alone. I didn’t know what to do. You know my mom raised me by herself...”
He closed the gap between them again and pulled her into his arms. He hadn’t realized she’d been raised by a single parent. To be honest, a weekend of hot sex didn’t really lend itself to sharing each other’s past like that. “You’re not by yourself.”
She looked up at him. That little pointed nose of hers was the tiniest bit red and her lip quivered as if she were struggling to keep from crying. That’s when he realized how out of character it was for Emily to be unsure. The baby—his baby—had thrown her for a loop as well.
“Thanks. I just need...I have no idea. I mean, a kid. I never expected this. But we used protection.”
“I didn’t the third time, remember? I was out and we...”
She blushed and rested her forehead against the middle of his chest, wrapped her arms around his waist and held him. He’d thought he hated being trapped, but in Emily’s arms this didn’t feel constricting.
“Ugh. My mom was right.”
“About what?” he asked. He looked over her head at the man in the mirror and remembered how many times he’d wanted to see some substance reflected back. Was this it? Of course it was. The baby would change things. He had no idea how or why, but he knew this moment was going to be the one that helped forge his future and the man he’d become.
“She said all it takes is a sweet-talking man and one time to get pregnant.”
“I’m a sweet-talking man?” He tipped her head up with his finger under her chin.
“You can be.”
“What are we going to do?” he asked at last. It was clear she’d run out of steam as soon as she entered the room. Marriage was the noble thing to do. He knew that’s what Juan Carlos would suggest, but he and Emily were strangers, and tying their lives together didn’t seem smart until they knew each other better.
She pushed away from him and walked over to the window. He knew the view she was afforded. This place had been hard-earned. He’d worked just as his siblings had to make Montoro Enterprises into the success it was today.
“I just wanted you to know. Beyond that I don’t need anything. Someday the kid is going to ask about you—”
“Someday? I’m going to be a part of this,” Rafe said.
“I don’t see how. You’re going to be jetting off to Alma to take the throne. My life is here. The baby’s life will be here.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. The timing on this sucked. But he didn’t blame Emily. He’d been running when he went to Key West, afraid to admit that he was in over his head. He’d just gotten word that his family was definitely interested in returning to Alma and as the oldest son he was expected to take the throne.
He was the oldest son. He was Rafael the Fourth. He should have been in command all the time. But the truth was, he was lost.
He wanted his own life. Not one that was dictated by rules and the demands of running a country. If he’d made the decision to return to Alma on his own he might feel differently but right now he felt strong-armed into it.
But somehow in Emily’s arms he’d found something.
* * *
Emily didn’t really feel any better about her next steps, but now that she’d told Rafe her news she could at least start making plans. She didn’t know what she expected... Well, the fairy-tale answer was that he’d profess his undying love—hey, their weekend together was pretty spectacular—then sweep her off her feet to his jet, and they’d go to Paris to celebrate their engagement.
But back in the real world, she was staring at him and wondering if this was the last time she’d be alone with him. It didn’t matter what the fantasy was or that she knew how he looked naked. They were still strangers.
Intimate strangers.
“You are looking at me in an odd way,” he said.
She struggled with her blunt nature. Saying that she knew what he looked like naked but not how he’d react to their child would reveal too much insecurity. So she searched for something light. Keeping things light was the key to this.
“Well, I never heard you rap along with Jay-Z and Kanye before. Sort of changed my opinion of you.”
“I’m a man of many talents,” he said.
“I’d already guessed that.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
He walked over to her, all sex on a stick with that slow confident stride of his. His hazel eyes were intense, but then everything about him was. Last time they were together, she’d sensed his need to just forget who he was, but this time was different. This time he seemed to want to show her more of the man he was.
The real man.
“What else have you guessed?” he asked in a silky tone that sent shivers down her spine.
He had a great voice. She knew he had flaws, but as far as the physical, she couldn’t find any. Even that tiny scar on the back of his hand didn’t detract from his appeal. “That you are used to getting your own way.”
“Aw, that’s so easy it’s almost like cheating.”
“Have you figured out that I’m used to getting my own way, too?” she asked. Suddenly she didn’t feel as if things were just happening to her. She was in control. Of Rafe, the baby and this entire afternoon. The pregnancy had thrown her. Brought up junk from her childhood she’d thought she’d moved on from, but now she was getting her groove back.
“Oh, I knew that from the moment I entered Shady Harry’s and saw you standing behind the bar.”
“Did you?” she asked. “I thought it was my Shady Harry’s T-shirt that caught your attention.”
The spicy scent of his aftershave brought an onslaught of memories of him moving over her. She’d buried her face in his neck. Damn, he’d smelled good. Then and now.
“Well, that and your legs. Red, you’ve got killer legs.”
She looked down at them. Seemed kind of average to her. But she wasn’t about to argue with a compliment like that.
“I like your ass,” she admitted.
He winked at her, and then turned so that she could see it. He wore a slim-fitting suit that looked tailor-made. Given who he was, it probably was.
He was going to be king.
She had no business flirting with him. Or even staying here a moment longer.
“Sorry.”
“What?” he asked. “Why? What happened?”
She shrugged. No way was she admitting she was intimidated by his title. But that was the truth. She wasn’t in control of that. No matter how much she wanted to be.
“This suit doesn’t do anything for me, does it? I asked Gabe if these pants made me look fat but he said no.”
She had seen pictures of his entire family in the newspaper and knew that the Gabe he referred to was Gabriel Montoro, his younger brother.
She laughed, as she knew he wanted her to. But inside something had changed. She no longer owned this afternoon. “I should go.”
“Why? What happened just now?”
“I remembered that you aren’t just a rich guy from Miami who came to Key West for the weekend. That your life isn’t your own and I really don’t have a place in it.”
His expression tightened and he turned away from her. She studied him as he paced over to his bed and looked down at the expensive leather suitcase lying there. She’d interrupted his packing. He probably didn’t really have time for her this afternoon.
“You said you never knew your father.” With an almost aristocratic expression, he glanced over his shoulder at her. She had the feeling she was seeing the man who would be king. And she had to admit he made her a little bit nervous. Maybe it was simply the fact that she knew he was going to be a king now. But it seemed as if he was different. More regal in his bearing than he had been during their weekend together.
“Yes. I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”
“I did know my father and my grandfather and great-grandfather. From my birth I was named to follow in their footsteps. I’ve never deviated from that expectation, and to be honest, I took a certain pride in carrying on our family name and trying to set an example for my brother and sister.”
“I’m getting a poor little rich boy feeling here. You have been given a lot of opportunities in your lifetime and now you have the chance to lead a nation,” she said, but inside she sort of understood what he was getting at. His entire life had been scripted since birth. She understood from what she’d read in the newspapers that the Montoros may have left Alma in the middle of the night, but they hadn’t left their pride behind.
“All my life I’ve done what is expected of me. I haven’t shirked a single duty. I’m the CEO of Montoro Enterprises and now I will be king of Alma, but for this one afternoon, Red, can I be Rafe? Not a man with his future planned but your lover? Father of your baby?” he asked.
He came back over and dropped to his knees in front of her, wrapping his arms around her hips. Then he drew her closer to him and kissed her belly. “I want you to be able to speak to our baby about me with joy instead of regret.”
She looked down at him as he rested his head against her body. Tunneling her fingers into his thick black hair, she understood that from this point on, when she left this penthouse they couldn’t be this couple again.
She sighed, and the woman she’d always been, the one who lived by the motto Never Say Never, took over. Rafe and she might not have more than this time together. And she wanted this one last time with him.
She hadn’t expected to be a mom this soon. She had made all these plans for her life and then when she’d taken those pregnancy tests it had all gone out the window.
But for this moment she could forget about tomorrow. She hoped this would be enough, but feared one more afternoon in his arms would never be enough to satisfy her.
Two (#ud4afa1ee-3426-5d08-b5d6-7090015dc2e2)
Rafe pushed aside all of his thoughts and just focused on Emily. It was amazing that she’d come to find him. She was strong enough, independent enough to keep the baby from him if she’d wanted. It embarrassed him a little, humbled him, too, that he would never have known about the baby if she hadn’t shown up.
He’d been focusing on the royal legacy and managing everyone’s expectations. Especially people he didn’t even know and hadn’t cared existed until last month. Funny how he’d gone from worrying about financial targets and managing a multinational company to worrying about a little thing like protocol.
But as long as Emily was here he could forget all that. Concentrate on being the man and not the king.
He held her tightly as he stood up, lifting her off her feet and letting her slide back down his body. She was curvy and light, his woman, and he wanted to be just her man. He carried her to the big brass bed and stood next to it, just waiting for a signal from her.
She owed him nothing.
She sighed and then lowered her head and brushed her lips over his, and something tight and frozen inside him started to melt. She kissed him not like the bold bartender she was when they’d met, but like a woman who wanted to relish her time with her lover.
They both knew without saying it that this was the last time they’d be together like this. Maybe if they’d met two years from now after he’d been on the throne and had time to figure out what being king meant, their path would have been different. But they hadn’t.
They had this afternoon and nothing more.
He wanted these memories of the two of them to keep for himself as he moved into a life that was no longer his own.
He pushed his hands into her thick red hair, cradling her head as he took control of the kiss. He thrust his tongue deep into her mouth, tasted peppermint and woman. Her arms slipped lower and she stroked her hand down his back as he deepened the kiss.
Though he knew this long, wet kiss was just the beginning, he wanted to savor it. Dueling desires warred inside him as he wanted to make every touch last as long as possible. The intensity of his lust for her was almost unbearable; he needed to be hilt-deep inside her right now.
He lifted his head, rubbed his thumb along the column of her neck. Her pulse was racing and her eyes were half closed. Her creamy skin was dotted with freckles and the faint flush of desire.
He dropped nibbling kisses down her neck. She smelled of orange blossoms and sea breeze. She was like the wildest parts of Florida, and he felt as if he could hold her for only a fleeing moment and then she’d be gone. Tearing through his life like a hurricane.
He slid his hands down her back, tightening them around her waist, and lifted her off her feet again. She wrapped her legs around his waist and put her hands on his shoulders. Then she looked down into his eyes with that bright southern-Atlantic-blue gaze of hers. He felt lost. As if he were drowning in her eyes.
She nipped at his lower lip and then sucked it into her mouth and he hardened. He was going to explode if he didn’t get his damned tailored pants off and bury himself in her body.
He reached for his fly but she shifted on him, rubbing her center over his erection. He shook, and the strength left his legs as he stumbled and fell back on the bed. She laughed and then thrust her tongue into his mouth again. And he gave up thinking.
She was like the wildest hurricane and all he could do was ride this storm out. She moved over him and made him remember what it felt like to be alive. The same way she had four weeks ago in Key West. She made the rest of the world pale, and everything narrowed to the two of them.
The heat flared between them and his clothes felt too constricting. He needed to be naked. Wanted her naked. Then she could climb back on his lap. He tore his mouth from hers, his breath heavy as he drew her T-shirt up and over her head and tossed it aside.
She wore the same beige lace bra she’d had on the last time they’d had sex. He traced his finger over the seam where the fabric met skin, saw the goose bumps spread from her breast over her chest and down her arms. Her nipple tightened and he leaned forward to rub his lips over it as he reached behind her back and undid the bra.
The cups loosened, but he didn’t lift his head from her nipple. He continued teasing her with light brushes of his tongue over it until she reached between them and undid his tie, leaving it dangling around his neck as she went to work on his shirt buttons.
He shifted back, taking the edge of her bra between his teeth and pulling it away. She laughed, a deep, husky sound he remembered so well. And he got even harder. He had thought there was no way he could want her more, but he’d been wrong.
She pushed the fabric of his shirt open and peeled it down his arms, but she hadn’t undone his cuffs so his own shirt bound him. His hands were trapped.
“Undo my hands.”
“Not yet, Rafe. Right now, I’m in charge,” she said. She scraped her fingernail down the side of his jaw to his neck and then over his pectorals. He sat there craving more of her touch, but damned if he was going to ask her for it. Control and power were two things he always maintained. But with Emily it was as if they’d flown out the window.
She took what she wanted, and though he’d never admit it out loud, he didn’t want to stop her. It felt good to just let go.
Flexing her fingers, she dug her nails into his chest and then shifted forward so that the long strands of her hair brushed against him. He shuddered with need, turning his head to try to catch her mouth with his, but she just laughed again and shifted back on his thighs, looking down at him with those eyes that were full of mysteries he knew he’d never really understand.
She drew one finger down the center of his chest, following the path of the light dusting of hair. She swirled her finger around his belly button in tiny circles that made everything inside him contract.
She stroked his erection through the fabric of his pants, and he canted his hips.
She rocked against him and smiled when he moaned her name. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she caught the lobe of his ear between her teeth and bit it lightly before whispering all the things she was going to do him. He felt his control slipping with each thrust of her tongue as she flicked it into his ear and then shifted backward on his thighs to reach between them, stroking his length through his pants again.
Cursing, he tried to reach for her but his bound arms wouldn’t let him. She rotated her shoulders and rubbed her nipples against his chest. She closed her eyes as she undulated against him, and this time he pulled his arms forward with all of his strength and heard the tear of fabric. She opened her eyes and then started laughing.
He grabbed her waist and rolled to his side, pulling her with him. He rolled over top of her, carefully keeping his weight on his elbows and knees so she wasn’t crushed under him. He took both of her hands in his and stretched them high over her head and then rubbed his chest over hers and heard her moan.
Damn, she felt good. Better than he’d remembered her feeling, and that said a lot because he still had erotic dreams of their weekend together.
He lowered his head and sucked her nipple into his mouth, holding both of her wrists above her head with one of his hands. He reached lower between their bodies and undid her jeans, pushing them down so that he could cup her in his hand. He rubbed her mound, and then traced the seam of her panties. Her legs scissored underneath his and he shifted until he lay between them. He let go of her wrists as he slowly kissed his way down her body.
She was covered in freckles; up close he could see that they were all different sizes. He flicked his tongue over each of them as he moved lower and lower until he found her belly button ring. The small loop had a starfish dangling from it. He tongued it and traced the circumference of her belly button.
He moved lower, catching the top of her bikini panties with the tip of his finger and drawing them slowly down. She shifted her hips and he pushed her jeans and panties down to her knees. She kicked them the rest of the way off.
He traced the pattern of freckles from her thigh to her knee, circling her kneecap and the small scar there before caressing his way back up the inside of her thighs. He felt the humid warmth of her body and traced her feminine core with his fingertip. She shifted on the bed, her hands reaching for him, but it was his turn to tease her. Plus if she touched him, he feared his control would splinter into a million pieces and this would be over too quickly.
He parted her folds and then leaned down to taste her. He closed his eyes as he sucked her intimate flesh, causing her to draw her legs closer around him and her hands to fall to the back of his head. She gripped his hair as her hips lifted upward toward his mouth and his tongue.
She was addicting. He couldn’t get enough of her. He pushed one finger into her body and heard her call his name. She was wet and ready for him. He fumbled, trying to free himself from his trousers. He lifted his head, looked up at her and saw that she was watching him. Her eyes were filled with passion and desire.
He stood up, shoved his pants and underwear off in a move that definitely couldn’t be called graceful, and then he lowered himself on top of her. He slowly used his chest and body to caress hers as he moved over her. She shifted her legs so that her thighs were on either side of his and he moved his hips forward, felt the tip of his erection at the opening of her body. He hesitated. This time was different from their weekend in Key West, but the passion in her eyes was the same.
Slowly he entered her, trying to make it last because she felt so damned good. She gripped his rock-hard flesh as he entered her and drove himself all the way home and then forced himself to stay still once he was fully seated in her body.
Her hands were on his shoulders, running up and down his back and then reaching lower to cup his butt and try to get him to move. But he needed a moment before he did that. A moment to make sure that she was with him. He lowered his head to her neck, and then bit her lightly before moving lower, kissing the full globes of her breasts.
She tightened as she arched underneath him. She looked up at him and whispered dark, sexual words that made his control disappear along with his willpower, and he found himself thrusting deeper into her body. Driving toward his climax and carrying her along with him.
He pushed her legs higher, putting her feet on his shoulders so he could go deeper, and pounded into her faster and faster until he heard her calling out his name and he spilled himself inside her. He thrust into her three more times before he let go of her legs and fell forward, bracing himself on his arms. He kissed the pert pink nipple on her left breast as he rested his head on her shoulder and tried to catch his breath.
He got up and left her for a few moments to wash up and then came back and lay down next to her on the bed. He was aware of the time and knew he should already be at the private airport and getting on his family’s jet so he could travel with them to Alma, but he couldn’t make himself leave.
He knew that this wasn’t love. He wasn’t going to lie to her or himself. But she was pregnant with his child and this fired him with an enthusiasm he just couldn’t muster when he thought of being king. He didn’t want the throne, but his father, who couldn’t inherit it because he’d never had his marriage annulled after divorcing Rafe’s mother, had been very clear that he thought Rafe needed to do his duty.
He stroked his hand down Emily’s arm. She had turned on her side and had her head on his shoulder.
“What are you thinking?”
“That I’m glad you came here today. Did you ever think of not telling me?” he asked.
He suspected he knew the answer, but wanted to hear it from her.
“No. It wasn’t easy to track you down—you’re pretty secretive about this penthouse bachelor pad, aren’t you? But Harry has lots of friends who have connections. It only took him six hours to find you.”
“Harry scares me,” Rafe admitted. The owner of Shady Harry’s bar had been fun and gregarious when Rafe had been partying and buying rounds for the entire place. But the next morning when he’d spotted the older man as he’d left Emily’s cottage, Harry had given him a look that said to watch his back. “What’s he to you?”
“He and my mom dated for a while,” Emily said. “He’s sort of like my stepdad. Why?”
“I have a feeling if I show up in Key West he’s going to be waiting with a shotgun.”
“You’re not going to Key West, you’re going to Alma. I’ve seen pictures. It’s really beautiful,” she said.
Not as beautiful as she was, Rafe thought. He leaned up on his elbow, put his hand flat on her stomach and realized he couldn’t control this any more than he could say no to the people in Alma who’d asked his family to come back and rule the country.
“It is. They’ve had a rough time since the revolution and I guess...I have to go,” he said.
“I know. I told you I wasn’t here to ask you to stay. I just needed you to know.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t know my dad. My mom has never mentioned his name to me. I asked her one time about him and she started crying. I want more than that for our baby. It’s not that I had a deprived childhood, but I always wonder. I have this emptiness inside me that nothing can fill. It’s that empty spot where everyone else has a dad.”
He was humbled by her explanation. He knew he wanted to be more than a name and a face to their kid, though. “We need to figure this out.”
There was a knock on the bedroom door.
“Rafael? Are you in here? Your father is in a car waiting downstairs and if you’re not down in ten minutes he’s coming up here and getting you.” It was his personal assistant, Jose.
Jose was his right-hand man at Montoro Enterprises and at home. He took care of all the details.
“I have company,” Rafe said. But Emily was more than just company. She was his lover. The mother of his unborn child.
“I am aware of that,” Jose said.
“Tell Father I’ll be down when I’m down,” Rafe said.
But the mood was broken and Emily was getting up and putting her clothes on. She had her jeans on and buttoned, but he stopped her before she put her T-shirt on. He pulled her into his arms. It seemed the sort of gesture that would reassure her, but since he was already thinking of everything he had to do, it felt hollow. He knew she noticed it, too, when she pulled back and shook her head.
The mantle of being a Montoro was tightening around him. “I—”
“Don’t. No excuses and definitely no lies,” she said. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a business card for Shady Harry’s; he turned it over and saw she’d written her name and number on the back. “If you want to know about our child, contact me.”
“I do. I will,” he said.
She smiled up at him. “I know that the next few weeks are going to be crazy for you, so no pressure.”
She pulled her shirt on and then tucked her underwear into her purse and started for the door. He watched her walk out. Part of him wanted to run after her and make her stay so he could talk her into trying a relationship or maybe even marriage. Another part wanted to scoop her up and run away with her to some Pacific island where no one would know their names, far enough away from his family and everyone they knew.
But Emily was a brave sort of woman, and running had never been his style, either, so he had no choice but to get dressed and head down to the car.
His father didn’t speak to him the entire way to the airport. Rafael III had wanted the throne enough to try to convince his ex-wife to come back, but Rafe’s mother wasn’t interested in doing anything to help out her former husband. To say the two of them had a strained relationship was putting it mildly.
They were a prime example of how getting married to the wrong person didn’t make for a happy family. Rafe had the childhood to prove it.
During the ride, his cousin Juan Carlos spoke too much. Telling him what was expected of the next king of Alma.
Juan Carlos had been orphaned and seemed to be fixated on the monarchy as a way of proving to himself and the rest of the family that he could carry on his parents’ legacy. Perhaps if Rafe’s parents hadn’t divorced and been horrible to each other, he’d have felt the same way about the family honor.
Rafe freely admitted to himself that if Emily’s pregnancy became public knowledge it would create a scandal that would make protecting that legacy even more difficult. But Rafe tuned Juan Carlos out and tried to figure out what he expected of himself as a man.
Three (#ud4afa1ee-3426-5d08-b5d6-7090015dc2e2)
Key West was a tourist town and there was no getting around that. The atmosphere was laid back and everyone had a sort of hungover look. There was something about being on the edge of the ocean that inspired indulgence in sun, sand and drinks.
Emily sat on the front porch of her flamingo-pink and white cottage with her feet propped on the railing, desperately needing to absorb that laid-back attitude. She’d left Miami and Rafe behind. She’d done what she’d set out to do, namely tell him he was going to be a father. That had gone well—differently than she’d expected, but the end result was the same. She was back here.
Alone.
“Em. Your mom asked me stop by,” Harry said as he walked around the side of the house.
He was tall, at least six five, and wore middle age well. His reddish-blond hair had thinned a little but was still thick enough, and he wore it cut short in a military style. His beard was equal parts red, blond and gray, and he had an easy smile. He was the closest thing she had to a dad. So she was glad to see him.
“Why?” Emily asked. Though she knew why her mom had sent Harry. If anyone could make her forget her troubles it was the jovial bar owner.
“She thought you might need some company. She’s on her way back to port but won’t be here until tonight.”
Emily sighed. “I don’t really want any company.”
“Figured you might say that, so I brought you a cup of decaf and a blueberry bagel. We can both sit here and eat and pretend we’re alone.”
Decaf.
Seemed like a little thing, but she always drank full-on caffeine. Now she knew that her mom had spilled the beans about her being preggers. Harry handed her a bakery bag from Key Koffee with the bagel and the coffee.
“You know?”
“I know. It was that slick guy from South Beach, right?”
She tipped her head back and closed her eyes. “He’s not that slick.”
Harry laughed. “They never are. Talk to me, kiddo. Do I need to take my .45 and head to Miami?”
She opened her eyes and lifted her head. “You would have made a really good dad,” she said, smiling at him.
“I think I have been to you,” he reminded her.
“You have. But no to the .45. Besides, you’d have to fly to Europe to find him.”
Harry took a bite out of his everything bagel and settled down on the top step, turning sideways with his back against the railing to face her.
“Europe? He seemed American to me,” Harry said.
“He’s Rafael Montoro IV. Part of...I’m not sure what to call him. But his family was royalty in a tiny Mediterranean country called Alma. They were kicked out decades ago but now they want them back. He’s the oldest son and heir apparent to the newly restored monarchy.”
“Complicates things, doesn’t it?” Harry said.
“You have no idea,” she said. “But I didn’t expect him to do anything when I gave him the news. You know?”
Harry took a sip of his coffee and then gave her one of those wise looks of his that she hated. He knew when she was lying, especially to herself.
“Okay, fine, I wanted him to be, like, we’ll do this together. Instead, I got...he was sweet but clearly torn. He can’t let his family down. And he and I only had one weekend together, Harry.”
“Sometimes that’s all it takes,” he said.
“It wasn’t enough for the guy who fathered me,” she said. “Please don’t tell Mom I said that. But really, that complicates everything. I’ve always thought I was okay with the fact that I don’t know who he was, but this baby...” She put her hands on her stomach. “It’s making me realize I’m not.”
Harry didn’t say anything. And after a few minutes Emily looked away from him and back to the foot traffic on the street near her house. What could he say? He was her substitute dad who’d stepped up when he didn’t have to. Harry must have thought that she was making a mess where there didn’t need to be one.
“I get it, kiddo. It’s hard to not want the best for your baby. We all do that,” he said. “Try to fix the problems in our past so that our kids don’t have to experience them.”
“Did you do that for Rita and Danny?” she asked. Harry had two kids who were both more than fifteen years older than her and lived in Chicago. They came down for two weeks each spring to visit Harry.
“I tried. But I ended up making my own mistakes and they have done the same. It’s all a part of being human,” he said.
“I’m getting Zen Harry this morning,” she said. But his positive attitude helped take her mind off Rafe and the sadness she’d been feeling.
It wasn’t that she’d expected anything else from him, but that she’d wanted something more. She shook her head as she realized that what she’d wanted was to be wanted.
For him to want to stay with her.
It was unrealistic, but a girl could dream.
“Well, I do have all this wonderful advice and no one to share it with,” Harry said with a wink. “You’ll be okay, kiddo. You’ll make decisions and choices and some of them are going to be fabulous and others you’re going to regret. But I do know one thing.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“You’re going to love that baby of yours, and in the end that’s all that really matters.”
“You think so?”
“I do. Your own mom did that for you. Look how you turned out,” he said.
“Not bad,” she admitted. She liked her life. She could have followed her mom into a similar career—she was a marine biologist—but Emily liked being on the land and not out at sea. She had a degree in hotel and restaurant management and one day hoped to open her own place. She knew she had a good life, but a part of her still missed Rafe.
Another part of her knew she just missed the idea of Rafe. So far every time they’d been together they’d ended up in bed. It wasn’t as if he was even a friend.
She wanted that picture-perfect family that she kept in her head. She wanted that for this baby she was carrying. She didn’t want her child to have the piecemeal family that she did. No matter that she loved her mom and Harry fiercely. For her child she wanted more.
And being the bastard of a European king probably wasn’t what her child would want. She was going to have to be very protective. Raise the baby to know its own strength and place in the world.
She noticed Harry watching her, realized she wasn’t alone and that made the loneliness she felt when she thought of Rafe a little less painful.
* * *
Alma was breathtakingly beautiful. The island was surrounded by sparkling blue seas and old world charm seemed to imbue every building. They’d landed at a private air field and were driving to the royal palace in the urban capital of Del Sol.
Rafe had heard there was a lively nightclub scene and before Emily’s visit had sort of thought of checking it out. But now that he had the dual mantle of monarchy and fatherhood hanging over him, he figured he should rethink that.
Del Sol was even more striking than the black and white photos he’d seen in the albums his tia Isabella kept. While there were modern buildings dotted throughout the city many of the old buildings remained. Tia Isabella had been a young woman when she’d been forced to flee Alma with the rest of their family. When Rafe and his siblings and cousin had been growing up they’d been entertained by her stories. Tia Isabella had spent a lot of time talking about the old days and what it had been like to grow up on Alma. But Rafe thought he understood why his grandfather hadn’t talked that much about it. Rafe would have been sad to leave this homeland, too.
As the royal motorcade made its way into Del Sol, Alma’s capital, people on the streets craned their necks to get a glimpse of the Montoros. Rafe was used to a certain level of fame and notoriety in Miami, but not this. There he was one of the jet-set Montoros. The young generation who worked hard and played harder.
Here he was the future monarch. He’d be the face of Alma to the world. And while his ego was sort of jazzed about that, another part of him wasn’t.
“Maybe you should put the window down and do that princess wave,” his sister Bella said with a sparkle in her blue eyes. Their father and the rest of their party were in a separate vehicle.
“Princess wave? That’s more your cup of tea,” he said. “Maybe I’ll throw up the peace sign.”
She giggled. He’d always been close to his little sister, and making her laugh helped him to relax.
Bella looked like a fairy-tale princess with her pretty blond hair. Not anything like Emily. He wondered what Emily would think of Alma. It was an island not that unlike her hometown of Key West, but the laid-back attitude in the Keys was a world away from this charming European nation.
For a country that had been ruled by a dictator for decades, the people in the streets seemed happy and prosperous and the buildings were clean and well-maintained. Rafe didn’t see any signs of financial ruin. But economic danger lurked whenever there was a change of regime. And if there was one thing he was good at, it was making money.
But would the government here listen to him?
To be honest he wasn’t the kind of person to negotiate for what he wanted. That was one of the reasons Montoro Enterprises had thrived under his leadership. He made bold decisions. Sometimes they didn’t pay off, but most of the time they did.
“You okay?” Bella asked.
He started to shrug it off. There was no way he was going to mention Emily or the fact that she was pregnant to his sister. Not until he had a chance to figure it out for himself. But the family stuff was also getting to him, especially how Juan Carlos was going really crazy about protocol and proper image and all that.
“This return to Alma is throwing me,” he admitted to her.
“How?” she asked. “You’ve always handled whatever the family has dished out. This will be no different. Pretend you’re the CEO of the country.”
As if. Being the king was a “name only” position. No power. Maybe that was why he hesitated to fully embrace it. He was a man of action. Not a figurehead.
“Good suggestion,” he said, glancing out the window as they approached the castle. Surrounded by glittering blue water on three sides, it rose from the land like a sand castle at the beach. He groaned.
“What?”
“I was hoping the castle would be in disrepair.”
“Why?”
“So I could hate it.”
Bella laughed again. “I love it. It’s everything I thought it would be,” she said.
“What if there’s not a hopping club scene? Will you still love it then?” he asked. Bella liked to party. Hell, they all did. They hadn’t been raised to assume the throne. They were all more likely to show up in the tabloids in a compromising position than on the society pages at a formal tea. The closer he got to the throne the less sure he was that he wanted to be there.
He felt Bella’s hand on his shoulder. “You’re going to be fine. I think you’ll make a great king.”
“Why? I’m not sure at all.”
“You’ve been a great big brother and always ensured our family’s place in business and in society.”
“Business is easy. I understand that world,” Rafe countered.
“I never thought the day would come when you’d admit that you aren’t sure of yourself,” she said, taking her phone from her handbag.
“What are you doing?”
“Texting Gabe that you have feet of clay.”
“He already knows that.”
“We all do,” Bella said. “Why are you acting like you are just figuring it out?”
“I’m going to be a king, Bella. It’s making me nutty,” he said.
“You weren’t as thrown by it a week ago,” she said. “What happened yesterday to make you delay your flight?”
Nothing.
Everything.
Something that could change the man he was. If he let it.
“Business. Running Montoro Enterprises does take a lot of time,” he said.
The car pulled to a stop and an attendant in full livery came to open the door for them. Bella climbed out first but looked back at Rafe.
“Lying to me is one thing. You can keep your secrets if you want to,” she said. “But I hope you aren’t lying to yourself.”
He followed her out of the car, and the warm Mediterranean air swept around him. She had a point. He knew in his gut that this didn’t feel right. He should be in Miami with Emily. He missed her.
The porte-cochere led to an inner brick-lined courtyard. There was a fountain underneath a statue of Rafe’s great-grandfather Rafael I. He was surprised it hadn’t been torn down when the dictator had taken over. Bella stopped walking and spun around on her heel, taking in the beauty of the palace.
For the first time he felt a sense of his royal lineage settling over him. If their family hadn’t been forced to flee he would have grown up in this palace. His memories would be of this place that smelled wonderfully of jasmine and lavender. Where was the scent coming from?
His father came up beside him and put his hand on his shoulder not saying a word. Something passed between them. An emotion that Rafe didn’t want to define. But Alma became real to him. In a way that it hadn’t been before. In Miami it had been easy to say he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be king but seeing this palace—he felt the history. And he sort of understood Juan Carlos’s perspective for once. Rafe didn’t want to let down their family line.
If Alma wanted the Montoros back on the throne than Rafe would have to put aside the feelings he felt stirring for Emily and figure out how to be their king.
That surprised him. He hadn’t expected to feel this torn. He was isolated from the rest of his family who seemed to think this return to royalty was just the thing they needed. They were all caught up in being back in the homeland. But as much as he felt swept up in the majesty of their return to Alma he knew he was still trying to figure out where home really was.
* * *
Emily worked the closing shift at Harry’s and walked home at 2:00 a.m. Key West wasn’t like the mean streets of Miami, but she moved quickly and kept her eyes open for danger. It was something she’d teach her kid.
She was starting to find her bearings with this pregnancy more and more as each day passed. Being a mom was going to take some getting used to, but as her own mom had said, she had nine months to make the adjustment.
Her cell phone vibrated in the pocket of her jeans and she reached back to pull it out. Glancing at the screen, she saw it was an international call. She only knew one person who was traveling internationally right now. She did some quick math and figured out that it was early morning in Alma.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Red. Figured you’d be getting off work. Please tell me I didn’t wake you.” Sure enough, it was Rafe.
“You’d think you’d be more careful about disturbing a pregnant woman’s rest,” she teased. She didn’t want to admit it but she’d missed him. Three days. That was all it had been since she’d seen him, but it had felt like a lifetime. His voice was deep and resonated in her ear, making her feel warm all over.
“Well, maybe I did call the bar earlier to determine if you were working tonight,” he admitted.
That sounded like Rafe. He was a man who left little to chance. “What can I do for you?”
“How are you feeling?” he asked. “How’s Florida?”
“I’m feeling fine,” she said. “I have had a little bit of morning sickness, and it’s not just limited to mornings. I’ve been getting sick midafternoon.”
She saw her house at the end of the lane and got her keys out. She’d left the porch lights on and it looked so welcoming. The only thing that would be better was if Rafe was waiting for her. And to be honest, as he talked to her on the phone, it was almost as if he was there with her.
“Makes sense since that’s when you wake up,” he said. “Is there anything you can do to help that?”
“No,” she said. “It’s not too bad. How’s Alma?”
“Nice. You’d like it. It’s all sand and sea for as far as the eye can see and quaint little villages. Not as laid back as Key West but still nice.”
“Any places to go paddleboarding?”
“Not yet. Why, do you think you’d move here and start a business?” he asked.
It was the closest he’d come to suggesting that she be near him in the future, and she felt numb even contemplating it. She had her own plans to open a restaurant around the corner from Harry’s. Not to be Rafe’s hidden mistress in some far-off European country.
“Not at all. I’ve got a place picked out for my future restaurant,” she said.
“Is that what you want to do?”
Once again she realized how little they actually knew of each other’s lives.
“Well, I can’t be a bartender forever.”
“I guess not. Tell me about your dreams,” he said.
She thought she heard the sound of footsteps on a tiled floor on his end. “Where are you?”
“Not ready to share that much with me?” he asked, countering her evasion.
In a way she wished they were playing a game. It would make everything easier. She could concentrate on winning and not really have to think about the emotions. But the truth was she was tired and still a little unsure of what she was doing. Sure, just hearing Rafe’s voice made her feel not so alone. But she didn’t want to allow herself to become dependent on him.
Not to turn her life into one big sob story, but usually when she started to feel comfortable with someone they left. It wasn’t that they abandoned her, just moved on and left her to her independent self. Even her mom and Harry. And she didn’t want that with Rafe.
“Nope. I want to hear about Alma. I read a little online yesterday. Seems like the change of regime is going to have a big impact on the economy. I know you are good at making money. Is that why they chose you and your family to come back and lead the country?” she asked.
“Our family ruled the country before the coup that installed the late dictator, Tantaberra. That’s why we were chosen. But my parents are divorced so Dad, who would be next in line, can’t assume the throne. They want someone with the right pedigree and the right reputation.”
“Um...I’m guessing if they found out about me that could put a wrench in things.”
“Possibly. I’m not going to deny you exist, Emily.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Would I be on the phone with you if I didn’t care?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said honestly. “We’re strangers.”
“Who are about to be parents to a baby,” he said. “Let’s get to know each other. And while we have half the world between us maybe I can talk to you without being distracted by your body and that sexy way you tilt your head to the side. You always make me forget everything except wanting to get you naked.”
Her breath caught as she sank down into the big armchair where Rafe had sat the one time he’d been to her place. They’d made love in the chair and she felt closer to him now. She tucked her leg up underneath her and let those memories wash over her.
“Red? You still there?”
“Yes. Dammit, now you’ve got me thinking about you naked.”
“Good. My evil plan worked,” he said. “Tell me something about yourself.”
“What?”
“Anything. I want to know the woman who’s going to be the mother of my child.”
She thought about her life. It was ordinary: nothing too tragic, nothing too exciting. But it was hers. “When I was six I thought if I spent enough time in the ocean I’d turn into a mermaid. My mom’s a marine biologist and we were living on her research vessel, The Sea Spirit. She made me a bikini top out of shells and sent me off every day to swim.”
“I’m glad you didn’t turn into a mermaid,” he said with a quiet laugh.
They talked on the phone until Emily started drifting to sleep. She knew she should hang up, but she didn’t want to break the connection. Didn’t want to wake up without Rafe.
“Red?”
“Yes?”
“I wish I was there to tuck you into bed,” he said.
“Me, too,” she admitted. Then she opened her eyes as she realized that she was starting to need him.
“Good night, Rafe,” she said, hanging up the phone before she could do anything stupid like ask him what he’d wanted to be as a boy. Or to come back to Key West.
Four (#ud4afa1ee-3426-5d08-b5d6-7090015dc2e2)
Rafe secluded himself from the rest of the family in the office area of the suite of rooms he’d been given. The deal he’d struck for Montoro Enterprises to ship Alma’s oil was taking a lot of his time.
Alma was a major oil producing country to the north of Spain. Montoro Enterprises would be shipping the oil to its customers in North and South America where the bulk of their business interests were. It made good business sense but he also wanted it because he’d get a chance to explore the country of his ancestors. When he’d first done the deal he’d anticipated his father becoming King not himself.
Plus truth be told, he’d been so focused on work because he was avoiding his family and the coterie of diplomats who seemed to be lurking whenever he stepped out of his suite. He didn’t want to talk about his coronation or about the business of running the government. Yet.
But sitting around and hiding out went against the grain, so he’d been working nonstop. He hadn’t shaved in the three days, and Mozart had replaced Jay-Z and Kanye on the stereo because no one would ever be tempted to stop working and rap to Mozart. He hadn’t even contacted Emily, though he’d thought of her night and day.
She was an obsession. He knew that. He had the feeling that if he were in Miami maybe it wouldn’t be as fierce, but he was far away from her and thinking of her was nice and comforting in the midst of this storm that was brewing around him.
He banged his head on the desk.
“I can see I’m interrupting,” Gabe said as he entered without knocking.
“I’m working.”
“Yeah, I noticed,” Gabe said, nodding toward the empty cans of Red Bull that littered the desk and the floor. He walked to the window and pulled back the drapes.
Rafe blinked against the glare of the sunlight. “What time is it?”
“Four in the afternoon. You’re expected for dinner tonight and if you don’t show up Juan Carlos is going to have a stroke. I know he’s been a pain lately with all this royal protocol, but we don’t want our cousin to have a stroke, do we?”
Rafe shook his head. “No.” He scrubbed his hands over his face. His eyes felt gritty and the stubble on his jaw felt rough. He was a mess. Truly. “This sucks.”
Gabe laughed that wicked, low laugh that Rafe had heard women found irresistible. He just found it annoying.
“Yeah, it does. Not so cool being the older brother now, is it?”
Not at all. “I should walk away...that would leave you holding the bag.”
A fleeting glimpse of panic ran across his brother’s face. “Dad would disown you. I’m pretty sure the board would fire you from Montoro Enterprises. Then what would you do?”
Run away to Key West.
Seemed simple enough, but to be fair he wasn’t sure what type of reception he’d receive if he just showed up on Emily’s doorstep.
“I think I’m too American to want to be a royal, you know? Maybe Dad still wants it, but it feels weird to me. I don’t want to be called ‘Your Majesty’ or ‘Your Highness.’”
Rafe watched his younger brother. If there were the slightest sign that Gabe was interested in being king, Rafe would just walk away and let his brother have it. But Gabe rubbed the back of his neck as he paced over to the window. “Me neither.”
“Then I guess I’d better stop acting like a jerk and get out there,” Rafe said. “What’s the plan?”
“Dinner with some supporters. And a family who’d love for you to meet their daughter,” Gabe said with a wry smile.
Rafe shook his head. He’d do his duty to his family, but he was already involved with a redhead who wouldn’t take kindly to him catting around. He was getting to know her, starting a relationship with the woman who was going to be the mother of his child. What if she didn’t feel possessive toward him the way he did toward her? And he did feel possessive. Emily was his. “I’m not interested.”
“Are you interested in someone else?”
“It’s complicated, Gabe.”
“I never thought I’d see the day when you said that. Is she special?”
“She could be,” Rafe said. Or at least that was what his gut was saying. The rest of him wasn’t too sure.
Once his brother left and Rafe had wrapped up what he was working on for the day, he started getting ready for the state dinner. When he got out of the shower, he saw that he had a text message from Emily.
It’s official. Just got word back from the doctor’s office. I’m due in January.
Would he be able to get back to the States in January?
Being with Emily would mean giving up the monarchy... and possibly his job, depending on how much it pissed off his family. Montoro Enterprises and Alma were now all linked together. Could he walk away from one without walking away from them all?
But what kind of man walked away from his own child?
Not one that Rafe wanted to be. He knew that but as he’d said to Gabe earlier, it was complicated.
He braced his hands on the bathroom counter and looked into his own hazel eyes searching for answers or a solution. But there was nothing there.
And that really pissed him off. He needed to take control of his personal life the way he did the boardroom. No more doing what everyone else wanted unless it fit with his own inner moral compass.
Except that he’d been a playboy for so long he wasn’t too sure he had one. Everyone had one, right? Then shouldn’t the answer be clearer than this?
When he was finished shaving, he took the towel off his hips and tossed it at his image in the mirror before he walked into the bedroom to dress.
He hit the remote for his sound system and switched from Mozart to “The Man” by Aloe Blacc . He stopped in his tracks. Right now it seemed as if everyone had a piece of him and the man Rafe had always wanted to be had been lost.
He knew what he had to do. No use pretending he was going to do anything else. It wasn’t that he thought the path would be easy, but then when had he ever taken the easy path? It was simply that spending time with his siblings made him realize that family was important to him.
His mind made up, he grabbed his phone and began typing, hitting Send before he could have second thoughts.
I’ll be there. When is your next appointment? I’d like to go with you if I can.
He owed it to himself and to his child to at least see if he could be a real partner to Emily. And be a real part of the baby’s life.
Really? Okay. If you do this then I don’t want you making promises you can’t keep.
That right there showed him how little she knew of him. Hell, what did he know about her? He knew how she looked in his arms. He knew that she had wanted to be a mermaid when she was little. He smiled at that one. He knew she was having his baby.
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Katherine Garbera
One night leads to the pregnancy surprise of a lifetime in this novel from USA TODAY bestselling author Katherine Garbera…Tapped to become king of his family’s ancestral homeland, hotshot Miami businessman Rafe Montoro needs a break from the pressure. A night with Key West bartender Emily Fielding is just the ticket—until weeks later, when she shows up pregnant!Emily wants her child know its father, though as an “unsuitable commoner,” she doesn’t want to block Rafe’s ascent to the throne. Still, there’s that unrelenting chemistry between them that won’t be denied. Will Rafe have to choose between love and country after all?
“What are we going to do?” he asked at last.
Emily pushed away from him and walked over to the window. He knew the view she was afforded from the window. This place had been hard-earned. He’d worked just as hard as his siblings to make Montoro Enterprises into the success it was today.
“I just wanted you to know. Beyond that I don’t need anything. Someday the kid is going to ask about you—”
“Someday? I’m going to be a part of this,” Rafe said.
“I don’t see how. You’re going to be jetting off to Alma to take the throne. My life is here. The baby’s life will be here.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. The timing on this sucked. But he didn’t blame Emily. He’d been running when he went to Key West, afraid to admit that he was in over his head. He was the oldest son. He was Rafael the Fourth, the future king. He should be in command all the time. But the truth was he was lost.
And somehow in Emily’s arms he’d found something.
* * *
Carrying a King’s Child is part of the series Dynasties: The Montoros—One royal family must choose between love and destiny!
Carrying a King’s Child
Katherine Garbera
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
KATHERINE GARBERA is a USA TODAY bestselling author of more than fifty books and has always believed in happy endings. She lives in England with her husband, children and their pampered pet, Godiva. Visit Katherine on the web at katherinegarbera.com (http://katherinegarbera.com), or catch up with her on Facebook and Twitter.
This book is for my Facebook posse who are always willing to chat about hot guys, good reads and the general craziness of life.
Contents
Cover (#u485f87e1-e9d6-50a4-b1ff-ed988d9ec8da)
Introduction (#u0040450c-3759-506e-8a2e-9c3dba450d93)
Title Page (#uf583a6bf-66bc-535b-b31a-a442b4b22a1a)
Dedication (#u054c0203-2424-5c1d-8e90-87cdb8776588)
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
One (#ud4afa1ee-3426-5d08-b5d6-7090015dc2e2)
Emily Fielding was shaking as she stepped off the elevator into the foyer of Rafael Montoro IV’s penthouse in South Beach. The Montoros had settled in Miami, Florida, decades ago, when as the royal family of Alma, they had to flee their European island homeland because of a coup. Now the dictator who’d replaced them was dead and the parliament of Alma wanted the Montoros back.
With Rafe as king.
Great. Happy ending for everyone. Well, everyone except for Emily, the bartender who was pregnant with the soon-to-be-king’s baby. Or at least that was what her gut told her. Her gut and three home pregnancy tests. She wasn’t easy to convince.
She had debated not telling Rafe about the baby, but having grown up without knowing who her father was, she just couldn’t do that to her own child. Sure, she’d had to lie to get up here to his very posh penthouse apartment, and she knew her timing sucked because Rafe had a lot of royal duties to attend to before his coronation, but she was still here.
Getting past security hadn’t been that easy, but she’d made a few calls to friends and found that one of them had a connection to Rafe via a maid service. So she’d used Maria’s pass to get into the gated community and her key to get into his building.
Sneaking around wasn’t her style. Normally. But nothing about this situation was normal.
She was shaking as she stood on the Italian marble floor and let the air-conditioning dry the sweat at the small of her back. Luxurious and well appointed, the apartment was exactly the sort of place where she expected to find Rafe. His family might have fled Alma in the middle of the night, but they’d brought their dignity and their determination with them to the United States and this generation of Montoros had truly flourished.
Rafe was the CEO of Montoro Enterprises. He had been featured in Forbes long before the recent developments in Alma. He’d earned the wealth she saw around him, and the fact that he played as hard as he worked was something she could respect. She played hard, too.
She forced herself not to touch her stomach. Not to draw attention to the one thing that changed everything. Since she’d looked at that stick in the bathroom and realized she was going to have a baby, everything had changed.
Pretending that there was more to her visit than ensuring that her child would know who its father was would be stupid. A wealthy businessman she could have had a shot with, she thought. But not a king.
Still...
She’d seen photos of Alma. With its white sand beaches and castle that looked like something out of a dream, it was a beautiful place. The kind of place that she might have dreamed about as a little girl. A fairy-tale kingdom with a returning prince. Sounded perfect, right?
Except that Rafael Montoro IV was a playboy and they’d had a fling. She wrinkled her nose as she tried to come up with something else to call it, but a two-night stand didn’t cover it, either. One weekend spent in each other’s arms. She could lose herself in the memories if she wasn’t careful.
Hell, she hadn’t been careful. Which was precisely why she was here. Pregnant and determined. She walked down the hallway toward the sounds of Jay-Z playing in the distance. She paused in the doorway of his bedroom.
She’d had to charm her way upstairs, but no way could this wait another moment. Rafe needed to know before he left. She needed to tell him.
She felt queasy and swallowed hard.
There were right and wrong ways to deliver this news, and as appealing to her sense of outrage as it would be to throw up on his carpet, she was hoping for a little sophistication. Just a tiny bit.
After all, she’d seen pictures of his sister and jet-setting mother, though his mother wasn’t really in the picture since her divorce from Rafe III. Still she was an elegant woman.
She cleared her throat.
She listened to Jay-Z and Kanye West singing about how there’s no church in the wild. She almost laughed out loud as she watched Rafe stop packing his suitcase and start to rap along. She leaned against the doorjamb and admitted her anger was really fear. She wasn’t mad at him. She just wanted him to be a different kind of guy so that she could have the fairy tale she wanted.
Not a castle and a title, but a man who loved her. A man who wanted to share his life with her and raise children by her side.
And no matter how fun Rafe was, his path lay somewhere else. He was duty-bound to become the constitutional monarch of Alma. She was determined to return to Key West and live out her life. She wasn’t interested in being involved with a royal; besides, she’d read in the papers that the heirs would have to marry people with spotless reputations.
He was really getting into dancing around the room and rapping.
She applauded when he finished and he turned to look at her.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, shock apparent on his face.
His body was tense. She suspected he was a tiny bit embarrassed to be caught rapping. Nerves made her mouthy. She knew that. So she should just say she was sorry for using her friend’s key to get into his penthouse.
But that wasn’t her way.
“Hello to you, too, Your Majesty. Should I curtsy or something? I’m not sure of the rules.”
“Neither am I,” he admitted. “Juan Carlos doesn’t like it when I am seen doing something...well, so American but also undignified.”
“Your secret is safe with me,” she said. “Who is Juan Carlos?”
“Juan Carlos Salazar II, my cousin, head of the Montoro Family Trust and advocate of decorum at all times.”
“He sounds like a stuffed shirt,” she said. “I doubt I’d meet with his approval.”
“Emily, what are you doing here? And how did you get up here? Security is usually very hard to get past.”
“I have my ways.”
“And they are?” he asked.
“My charm,” she said.
He shook his head. “I’m going to have to warn them about feisty redheads.”
“I actually used a key that I procured from your maid service.”
“You’ve been reduced to criminal behavior. Curiouser and curiouser. Why are you here? Did you decide that you wanted to give me a proper send-off?” he asked. He strode over to her, his big body moving with an economy of motion that captivated her. The same way it had when she’d first glimpsed him in the crowded Key West bar where she worked as a bartender.
He was tall—well over six feet—and muscly, but he moved with grace and she could honestly watch him all day long.
“Why are you here, Red? You said goodbye was forever.”
Goodbye.
She’d meant it when he’d left. He was a rich guy from Miami and experience had shown her they were only in Key West for one thing. Having given it to him she’d wanted to ensure she didn’t give into temptation a second time.
“I did mean it.”
“Help me, Red. I don’t want to jump to conclusions,” he said.
She chewed her lower lip. Up close she could see the flecks of green in his hazel eyes.
He was easily one of the most attractive men she’d ever seen. He’d make a killing in Hollywood with those thick eyelashes and those cheekbones. It wouldn’t matter if he could act, just putting him on screen would draw the masses in.
She wished she were immune.
“I’m pregnant.”
He stumbled backward and looked at her as if she’d just started speaking in tongues.
* * *
Pregnant!
He stepped back and walked over to the Bose speaker on the dresser to turn off the music. A baby. From what he knew of the tough-as-nails-bartender, he could guess she wouldn’t be standing in his penthouse apartment if he wasn’t the father. His first reaction was joy.
A child.
It wasn’t something he’d ever thought he wanted. He hardly knew Emily so had no idea if she was here for money or something else. But knowing his child was growing inside of her stirred something primal. Something very powerful. The baby was his.
Maybe that was just because it gave him something to think about other than the recent decision that had been made for him.
He’d been dreading his trip to Alma. He was flattered that the country that had once driven his family out had come back to them and asked him to be the next king, but he had grown up here in Florida. He didn’t want to be a stuffy royal.
He didn’t want European paparazzi following him around and trying to catch him doing anything that would bring shame to his family. God, knew he worked and played hard.
“Rafe?”
“Yeah?”
“Did you hear what I said?” Emily asked.
He had. A baby. Lord knew his father hadn’t been the best and as a result, Rafe had thought he’d never have kids. It wasn’t as if either of his parents had set a great example. And he was still young, but damn if he wasn’t feeling much older every day.
“Yeah, I did. Are you sure?” he asked at last.
She gave him a fiery look from those aqua-blue eyes of hers. He’d seen the passionate side of her nature, and he guessed he was about to witness her temper. “Would I be here if I wasn’t?”
He held his hand up.
“Slow down, Red. I didn’t mean are you sure it’s mine. I meant...are you sure you’re pregnant?”
“Damned straight.”
“I get it. I had to take three at-home pregnancy tests and visit the doctor before I believed it myself. But trust me, Rafe. I’m positive I’m pregnant and that the baby is yours.”
“This is a little surreal,” he said.
“I know,” she said, with just a hint of softening on in her tone. “Listen, I know you can’t turn your back on your family and marry me and frankly, we only had one weekend together so I’d have to say no. But...I don’t want this kid to grow up without any knowledge of you.”
“Me either.”
She glanced up, surprised.
To be honest, he sort of surprised himself. But he knew all the things not to do as a dad thanks to his own father. It didn’t seem right for a kid of his to grow up without him. He wanted that. If he had a child, he wanted a chance to share the Montoro legacy...not the one newly sprung on him that came with a throne, but the one he’d carved out for himself in business. “Don’t look shocked.”
“You’ve kind of got a lot going on right now. And having a kid with me isn’t going to go over well.”
“Tough,” he said. He still wasn’t sure he wanted to be king of Alma. He and his siblings hadn’t grown up with the attitude that they were royalty. They were regular American kids who’d never expected to go back to Alma. “I still make my own decisions.”
“I know that,” she said. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ve just been so crazy since I realized I was pregnant and alone. I didn’t know what to do. You know my mom raised me by herself...”
He closed the gap between them again and pulled her into his arms. He hadn’t realized she’d been raised by a single parent. To be honest, a weekend of hot sex didn’t really lend itself to sharing each other’s past like that. “You’re not by yourself.”
She looked up at him. That little pointed nose of hers was the tiniest bit red and her lip quivered as if she were struggling to keep from crying. That’s when he realized how out of character it was for Emily to be unsure. The baby—his baby—had thrown her for a loop as well.
“Thanks. I just need...I have no idea. I mean, a kid. I never expected this. But we used protection.”
“I didn’t the third time, remember? I was out and we...”
She blushed and rested her forehead against the middle of his chest, wrapped her arms around his waist and held him. He’d thought he hated being trapped, but in Emily’s arms this didn’t feel constricting.
“Ugh. My mom was right.”
“About what?” he asked. He looked over her head at the man in the mirror and remembered how many times he’d wanted to see some substance reflected back. Was this it? Of course it was. The baby would change things. He had no idea how or why, but he knew this moment was going to be the one that helped forge his future and the man he’d become.
“She said all it takes is a sweet-talking man and one time to get pregnant.”
“I’m a sweet-talking man?” He tipped her head up with his finger under her chin.
“You can be.”
“What are we going to do?” he asked at last. It was clear she’d run out of steam as soon as she entered the room. Marriage was the noble thing to do. He knew that’s what Juan Carlos would suggest, but he and Emily were strangers, and tying their lives together didn’t seem smart until they knew each other better.
She pushed away from him and walked over to the window. He knew the view she was afforded. This place had been hard-earned. He’d worked just as his siblings had to make Montoro Enterprises into the success it was today.
“I just wanted you to know. Beyond that I don’t need anything. Someday the kid is going to ask about you—”
“Someday? I’m going to be a part of this,” Rafe said.
“I don’t see how. You’re going to be jetting off to Alma to take the throne. My life is here. The baby’s life will be here.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. The timing on this sucked. But he didn’t blame Emily. He’d been running when he went to Key West, afraid to admit that he was in over his head. He’d just gotten word that his family was definitely interested in returning to Alma and as the oldest son he was expected to take the throne.
He was the oldest son. He was Rafael the Fourth. He should have been in command all the time. But the truth was, he was lost.
He wanted his own life. Not one that was dictated by rules and the demands of running a country. If he’d made the decision to return to Alma on his own he might feel differently but right now he felt strong-armed into it.
But somehow in Emily’s arms he’d found something.
* * *
Emily didn’t really feel any better about her next steps, but now that she’d told Rafe her news she could at least start making plans. She didn’t know what she expected... Well, the fairy-tale answer was that he’d profess his undying love—hey, their weekend together was pretty spectacular—then sweep her off her feet to his jet, and they’d go to Paris to celebrate their engagement.
But back in the real world, she was staring at him and wondering if this was the last time she’d be alone with him. It didn’t matter what the fantasy was or that she knew how he looked naked. They were still strangers.
Intimate strangers.
“You are looking at me in an odd way,” he said.
She struggled with her blunt nature. Saying that she knew what he looked like naked but not how he’d react to their child would reveal too much insecurity. So she searched for something light. Keeping things light was the key to this.
“Well, I never heard you rap along with Jay-Z and Kanye before. Sort of changed my opinion of you.”
“I’m a man of many talents,” he said.
“I’d already guessed that.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
He walked over to her, all sex on a stick with that slow confident stride of his. His hazel eyes were intense, but then everything about him was. Last time they were together, she’d sensed his need to just forget who he was, but this time was different. This time he seemed to want to show her more of the man he was.
The real man.
“What else have you guessed?” he asked in a silky tone that sent shivers down her spine.
He had a great voice. She knew he had flaws, but as far as the physical, she couldn’t find any. Even that tiny scar on the back of his hand didn’t detract from his appeal. “That you are used to getting your own way.”
“Aw, that’s so easy it’s almost like cheating.”
“Have you figured out that I’m used to getting my own way, too?” she asked. Suddenly she didn’t feel as if things were just happening to her. She was in control. Of Rafe, the baby and this entire afternoon. The pregnancy had thrown her. Brought up junk from her childhood she’d thought she’d moved on from, but now she was getting her groove back.
“Oh, I knew that from the moment I entered Shady Harry’s and saw you standing behind the bar.”
“Did you?” she asked. “I thought it was my Shady Harry’s T-shirt that caught your attention.”
The spicy scent of his aftershave brought an onslaught of memories of him moving over her. She’d buried her face in his neck. Damn, he’d smelled good. Then and now.
“Well, that and your legs. Red, you’ve got killer legs.”
She looked down at them. Seemed kind of average to her. But she wasn’t about to argue with a compliment like that.
“I like your ass,” she admitted.
He winked at her, and then turned so that she could see it. He wore a slim-fitting suit that looked tailor-made. Given who he was, it probably was.
He was going to be king.
She had no business flirting with him. Or even staying here a moment longer.
“Sorry.”
“What?” he asked. “Why? What happened?”
She shrugged. No way was she admitting she was intimidated by his title. But that was the truth. She wasn’t in control of that. No matter how much she wanted to be.
“This suit doesn’t do anything for me, does it? I asked Gabe if these pants made me look fat but he said no.”
She had seen pictures of his entire family in the newspaper and knew that the Gabe he referred to was Gabriel Montoro, his younger brother.
She laughed, as she knew he wanted her to. But inside something had changed. She no longer owned this afternoon. “I should go.”
“Why? What happened just now?”
“I remembered that you aren’t just a rich guy from Miami who came to Key West for the weekend. That your life isn’t your own and I really don’t have a place in it.”
His expression tightened and he turned away from her. She studied him as he paced over to his bed and looked down at the expensive leather suitcase lying there. She’d interrupted his packing. He probably didn’t really have time for her this afternoon.
“You said you never knew your father.” With an almost aristocratic expression, he glanced over his shoulder at her. She had the feeling she was seeing the man who would be king. And she had to admit he made her a little bit nervous. Maybe it was simply the fact that she knew he was going to be a king now. But it seemed as if he was different. More regal in his bearing than he had been during their weekend together.
“Yes. I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”
“I did know my father and my grandfather and great-grandfather. From my birth I was named to follow in their footsteps. I’ve never deviated from that expectation, and to be honest, I took a certain pride in carrying on our family name and trying to set an example for my brother and sister.”
“I’m getting a poor little rich boy feeling here. You have been given a lot of opportunities in your lifetime and now you have the chance to lead a nation,” she said, but inside she sort of understood what he was getting at. His entire life had been scripted since birth. She understood from what she’d read in the newspapers that the Montoros may have left Alma in the middle of the night, but they hadn’t left their pride behind.
“All my life I’ve done what is expected of me. I haven’t shirked a single duty. I’m the CEO of Montoro Enterprises and now I will be king of Alma, but for this one afternoon, Red, can I be Rafe? Not a man with his future planned but your lover? Father of your baby?” he asked.
He came back over and dropped to his knees in front of her, wrapping his arms around her hips. Then he drew her closer to him and kissed her belly. “I want you to be able to speak to our baby about me with joy instead of regret.”
She looked down at him as he rested his head against her body. Tunneling her fingers into his thick black hair, she understood that from this point on, when she left this penthouse they couldn’t be this couple again.
She sighed, and the woman she’d always been, the one who lived by the motto Never Say Never, took over. Rafe and she might not have more than this time together. And she wanted this one last time with him.
She hadn’t expected to be a mom this soon. She had made all these plans for her life and then when she’d taken those pregnancy tests it had all gone out the window.
But for this moment she could forget about tomorrow. She hoped this would be enough, but feared one more afternoon in his arms would never be enough to satisfy her.
Two (#ud4afa1ee-3426-5d08-b5d6-7090015dc2e2)
Rafe pushed aside all of his thoughts and just focused on Emily. It was amazing that she’d come to find him. She was strong enough, independent enough to keep the baby from him if she’d wanted. It embarrassed him a little, humbled him, too, that he would never have known about the baby if she hadn’t shown up.
He’d been focusing on the royal legacy and managing everyone’s expectations. Especially people he didn’t even know and hadn’t cared existed until last month. Funny how he’d gone from worrying about financial targets and managing a multinational company to worrying about a little thing like protocol.
But as long as Emily was here he could forget all that. Concentrate on being the man and not the king.
He held her tightly as he stood up, lifting her off her feet and letting her slide back down his body. She was curvy and light, his woman, and he wanted to be just her man. He carried her to the big brass bed and stood next to it, just waiting for a signal from her.
She owed him nothing.
She sighed and then lowered her head and brushed her lips over his, and something tight and frozen inside him started to melt. She kissed him not like the bold bartender she was when they’d met, but like a woman who wanted to relish her time with her lover.
They both knew without saying it that this was the last time they’d be together like this. Maybe if they’d met two years from now after he’d been on the throne and had time to figure out what being king meant, their path would have been different. But they hadn’t.
They had this afternoon and nothing more.
He wanted these memories of the two of them to keep for himself as he moved into a life that was no longer his own.
He pushed his hands into her thick red hair, cradling her head as he took control of the kiss. He thrust his tongue deep into her mouth, tasted peppermint and woman. Her arms slipped lower and she stroked her hand down his back as he deepened the kiss.
Though he knew this long, wet kiss was just the beginning, he wanted to savor it. Dueling desires warred inside him as he wanted to make every touch last as long as possible. The intensity of his lust for her was almost unbearable; he needed to be hilt-deep inside her right now.
He lifted his head, rubbed his thumb along the column of her neck. Her pulse was racing and her eyes were half closed. Her creamy skin was dotted with freckles and the faint flush of desire.
He dropped nibbling kisses down her neck. She smelled of orange blossoms and sea breeze. She was like the wildest parts of Florida, and he felt as if he could hold her for only a fleeing moment and then she’d be gone. Tearing through his life like a hurricane.
He slid his hands down her back, tightening them around her waist, and lifted her off her feet again. She wrapped her legs around his waist and put her hands on his shoulders. Then she looked down into his eyes with that bright southern-Atlantic-blue gaze of hers. He felt lost. As if he were drowning in her eyes.
She nipped at his lower lip and then sucked it into her mouth and he hardened. He was going to explode if he didn’t get his damned tailored pants off and bury himself in her body.
He reached for his fly but she shifted on him, rubbing her center over his erection. He shook, and the strength left his legs as he stumbled and fell back on the bed. She laughed and then thrust her tongue into his mouth again. And he gave up thinking.
She was like the wildest hurricane and all he could do was ride this storm out. She moved over him and made him remember what it felt like to be alive. The same way she had four weeks ago in Key West. She made the rest of the world pale, and everything narrowed to the two of them.
The heat flared between them and his clothes felt too constricting. He needed to be naked. Wanted her naked. Then she could climb back on his lap. He tore his mouth from hers, his breath heavy as he drew her T-shirt up and over her head and tossed it aside.
She wore the same beige lace bra she’d had on the last time they’d had sex. He traced his finger over the seam where the fabric met skin, saw the goose bumps spread from her breast over her chest and down her arms. Her nipple tightened and he leaned forward to rub his lips over it as he reached behind her back and undid the bra.
The cups loosened, but he didn’t lift his head from her nipple. He continued teasing her with light brushes of his tongue over it until she reached between them and undid his tie, leaving it dangling around his neck as she went to work on his shirt buttons.
He shifted back, taking the edge of her bra between his teeth and pulling it away. She laughed, a deep, husky sound he remembered so well. And he got even harder. He had thought there was no way he could want her more, but he’d been wrong.
She pushed the fabric of his shirt open and peeled it down his arms, but she hadn’t undone his cuffs so his own shirt bound him. His hands were trapped.
“Undo my hands.”
“Not yet, Rafe. Right now, I’m in charge,” she said. She scraped her fingernail down the side of his jaw to his neck and then over his pectorals. He sat there craving more of her touch, but damned if he was going to ask her for it. Control and power were two things he always maintained. But with Emily it was as if they’d flown out the window.
She took what she wanted, and though he’d never admit it out loud, he didn’t want to stop her. It felt good to just let go.
Flexing her fingers, she dug her nails into his chest and then shifted forward so that the long strands of her hair brushed against him. He shuddered with need, turning his head to try to catch her mouth with his, but she just laughed again and shifted back on his thighs, looking down at him with those eyes that were full of mysteries he knew he’d never really understand.
She drew one finger down the center of his chest, following the path of the light dusting of hair. She swirled her finger around his belly button in tiny circles that made everything inside him contract.
She stroked his erection through the fabric of his pants, and he canted his hips.
She rocked against him and smiled when he moaned her name. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she caught the lobe of his ear between her teeth and bit it lightly before whispering all the things she was going to do him. He felt his control slipping with each thrust of her tongue as she flicked it into his ear and then shifted backward on his thighs to reach between them, stroking his length through his pants again.
Cursing, he tried to reach for her but his bound arms wouldn’t let him. She rotated her shoulders and rubbed her nipples against his chest. She closed her eyes as she undulated against him, and this time he pulled his arms forward with all of his strength and heard the tear of fabric. She opened her eyes and then started laughing.
He grabbed her waist and rolled to his side, pulling her with him. He rolled over top of her, carefully keeping his weight on his elbows and knees so she wasn’t crushed under him. He took both of her hands in his and stretched them high over her head and then rubbed his chest over hers and heard her moan.
Damn, she felt good. Better than he’d remembered her feeling, and that said a lot because he still had erotic dreams of their weekend together.
He lowered his head and sucked her nipple into his mouth, holding both of her wrists above her head with one of his hands. He reached lower between their bodies and undid her jeans, pushing them down so that he could cup her in his hand. He rubbed her mound, and then traced the seam of her panties. Her legs scissored underneath his and he shifted until he lay between them. He let go of her wrists as he slowly kissed his way down her body.
She was covered in freckles; up close he could see that they were all different sizes. He flicked his tongue over each of them as he moved lower and lower until he found her belly button ring. The small loop had a starfish dangling from it. He tongued it and traced the circumference of her belly button.
He moved lower, catching the top of her bikini panties with the tip of his finger and drawing them slowly down. She shifted her hips and he pushed her jeans and panties down to her knees. She kicked them the rest of the way off.
He traced the pattern of freckles from her thigh to her knee, circling her kneecap and the small scar there before caressing his way back up the inside of her thighs. He felt the humid warmth of her body and traced her feminine core with his fingertip. She shifted on the bed, her hands reaching for him, but it was his turn to tease her. Plus if she touched him, he feared his control would splinter into a million pieces and this would be over too quickly.
He parted her folds and then leaned down to taste her. He closed his eyes as he sucked her intimate flesh, causing her to draw her legs closer around him and her hands to fall to the back of his head. She gripped his hair as her hips lifted upward toward his mouth and his tongue.
She was addicting. He couldn’t get enough of her. He pushed one finger into her body and heard her call his name. She was wet and ready for him. He fumbled, trying to free himself from his trousers. He lifted his head, looked up at her and saw that she was watching him. Her eyes were filled with passion and desire.
He stood up, shoved his pants and underwear off in a move that definitely couldn’t be called graceful, and then he lowered himself on top of her. He slowly used his chest and body to caress hers as he moved over her. She shifted her legs so that her thighs were on either side of his and he moved his hips forward, felt the tip of his erection at the opening of her body. He hesitated. This time was different from their weekend in Key West, but the passion in her eyes was the same.
Slowly he entered her, trying to make it last because she felt so damned good. She gripped his rock-hard flesh as he entered her and drove himself all the way home and then forced himself to stay still once he was fully seated in her body.
Her hands were on his shoulders, running up and down his back and then reaching lower to cup his butt and try to get him to move. But he needed a moment before he did that. A moment to make sure that she was with him. He lowered his head to her neck, and then bit her lightly before moving lower, kissing the full globes of her breasts.
She tightened as she arched underneath him. She looked up at him and whispered dark, sexual words that made his control disappear along with his willpower, and he found himself thrusting deeper into her body. Driving toward his climax and carrying her along with him.
He pushed her legs higher, putting her feet on his shoulders so he could go deeper, and pounded into her faster and faster until he heard her calling out his name and he spilled himself inside her. He thrust into her three more times before he let go of her legs and fell forward, bracing himself on his arms. He kissed the pert pink nipple on her left breast as he rested his head on her shoulder and tried to catch his breath.
He got up and left her for a few moments to wash up and then came back and lay down next to her on the bed. He was aware of the time and knew he should already be at the private airport and getting on his family’s jet so he could travel with them to Alma, but he couldn’t make himself leave.
He knew that this wasn’t love. He wasn’t going to lie to her or himself. But she was pregnant with his child and this fired him with an enthusiasm he just couldn’t muster when he thought of being king. He didn’t want the throne, but his father, who couldn’t inherit it because he’d never had his marriage annulled after divorcing Rafe’s mother, had been very clear that he thought Rafe needed to do his duty.
He stroked his hand down Emily’s arm. She had turned on her side and had her head on his shoulder.
“What are you thinking?”
“That I’m glad you came here today. Did you ever think of not telling me?” he asked.
He suspected he knew the answer, but wanted to hear it from her.
“No. It wasn’t easy to track you down—you’re pretty secretive about this penthouse bachelor pad, aren’t you? But Harry has lots of friends who have connections. It only took him six hours to find you.”
“Harry scares me,” Rafe admitted. The owner of Shady Harry’s bar had been fun and gregarious when Rafe had been partying and buying rounds for the entire place. But the next morning when he’d spotted the older man as he’d left Emily’s cottage, Harry had given him a look that said to watch his back. “What’s he to you?”
“He and my mom dated for a while,” Emily said. “He’s sort of like my stepdad. Why?”
“I have a feeling if I show up in Key West he’s going to be waiting with a shotgun.”
“You’re not going to Key West, you’re going to Alma. I’ve seen pictures. It’s really beautiful,” she said.
Not as beautiful as she was, Rafe thought. He leaned up on his elbow, put his hand flat on her stomach and realized he couldn’t control this any more than he could say no to the people in Alma who’d asked his family to come back and rule the country.
“It is. They’ve had a rough time since the revolution and I guess...I have to go,” he said.
“I know. I told you I wasn’t here to ask you to stay. I just needed you to know.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t know my dad. My mom has never mentioned his name to me. I asked her one time about him and she started crying. I want more than that for our baby. It’s not that I had a deprived childhood, but I always wonder. I have this emptiness inside me that nothing can fill. It’s that empty spot where everyone else has a dad.”
He was humbled by her explanation. He knew he wanted to be more than a name and a face to their kid, though. “We need to figure this out.”
There was a knock on the bedroom door.
“Rafael? Are you in here? Your father is in a car waiting downstairs and if you’re not down in ten minutes he’s coming up here and getting you.” It was his personal assistant, Jose.
Jose was his right-hand man at Montoro Enterprises and at home. He took care of all the details.
“I have company,” Rafe said. But Emily was more than just company. She was his lover. The mother of his unborn child.
“I am aware of that,” Jose said.
“Tell Father I’ll be down when I’m down,” Rafe said.
But the mood was broken and Emily was getting up and putting her clothes on. She had her jeans on and buttoned, but he stopped her before she put her T-shirt on. He pulled her into his arms. It seemed the sort of gesture that would reassure her, but since he was already thinking of everything he had to do, it felt hollow. He knew she noticed it, too, when she pulled back and shook her head.
The mantle of being a Montoro was tightening around him. “I—”
“Don’t. No excuses and definitely no lies,” she said. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a business card for Shady Harry’s; he turned it over and saw she’d written her name and number on the back. “If you want to know about our child, contact me.”
“I do. I will,” he said.
She smiled up at him. “I know that the next few weeks are going to be crazy for you, so no pressure.”
She pulled her shirt on and then tucked her underwear into her purse and started for the door. He watched her walk out. Part of him wanted to run after her and make her stay so he could talk her into trying a relationship or maybe even marriage. Another part wanted to scoop her up and run away with her to some Pacific island where no one would know their names, far enough away from his family and everyone they knew.
But Emily was a brave sort of woman, and running had never been his style, either, so he had no choice but to get dressed and head down to the car.
His father didn’t speak to him the entire way to the airport. Rafael III had wanted the throne enough to try to convince his ex-wife to come back, but Rafe’s mother wasn’t interested in doing anything to help out her former husband. To say the two of them had a strained relationship was putting it mildly.
They were a prime example of how getting married to the wrong person didn’t make for a happy family. Rafe had the childhood to prove it.
During the ride, his cousin Juan Carlos spoke too much. Telling him what was expected of the next king of Alma.
Juan Carlos had been orphaned and seemed to be fixated on the monarchy as a way of proving to himself and the rest of the family that he could carry on his parents’ legacy. Perhaps if Rafe’s parents hadn’t divorced and been horrible to each other, he’d have felt the same way about the family honor.
Rafe freely admitted to himself that if Emily’s pregnancy became public knowledge it would create a scandal that would make protecting that legacy even more difficult. But Rafe tuned Juan Carlos out and tried to figure out what he expected of himself as a man.
Three (#ud4afa1ee-3426-5d08-b5d6-7090015dc2e2)
Key West was a tourist town and there was no getting around that. The atmosphere was laid back and everyone had a sort of hungover look. There was something about being on the edge of the ocean that inspired indulgence in sun, sand and drinks.
Emily sat on the front porch of her flamingo-pink and white cottage with her feet propped on the railing, desperately needing to absorb that laid-back attitude. She’d left Miami and Rafe behind. She’d done what she’d set out to do, namely tell him he was going to be a father. That had gone well—differently than she’d expected, but the end result was the same. She was back here.
Alone.
“Em. Your mom asked me stop by,” Harry said as he walked around the side of the house.
He was tall, at least six five, and wore middle age well. His reddish-blond hair had thinned a little but was still thick enough, and he wore it cut short in a military style. His beard was equal parts red, blond and gray, and he had an easy smile. He was the closest thing she had to a dad. So she was glad to see him.
“Why?” Emily asked. Though she knew why her mom had sent Harry. If anyone could make her forget her troubles it was the jovial bar owner.
“She thought you might need some company. She’s on her way back to port but won’t be here until tonight.”
Emily sighed. “I don’t really want any company.”
“Figured you might say that, so I brought you a cup of decaf and a blueberry bagel. We can both sit here and eat and pretend we’re alone.”
Decaf.
Seemed like a little thing, but she always drank full-on caffeine. Now she knew that her mom had spilled the beans about her being preggers. Harry handed her a bakery bag from Key Koffee with the bagel and the coffee.
“You know?”
“I know. It was that slick guy from South Beach, right?”
She tipped her head back and closed her eyes. “He’s not that slick.”
Harry laughed. “They never are. Talk to me, kiddo. Do I need to take my .45 and head to Miami?”
She opened her eyes and lifted her head. “You would have made a really good dad,” she said, smiling at him.
“I think I have been to you,” he reminded her.
“You have. But no to the .45. Besides, you’d have to fly to Europe to find him.”
Harry took a bite out of his everything bagel and settled down on the top step, turning sideways with his back against the railing to face her.
“Europe? He seemed American to me,” Harry said.
“He’s Rafael Montoro IV. Part of...I’m not sure what to call him. But his family was royalty in a tiny Mediterranean country called Alma. They were kicked out decades ago but now they want them back. He’s the oldest son and heir apparent to the newly restored monarchy.”
“Complicates things, doesn’t it?” Harry said.
“You have no idea,” she said. “But I didn’t expect him to do anything when I gave him the news. You know?”
Harry took a sip of his coffee and then gave her one of those wise looks of his that she hated. He knew when she was lying, especially to herself.
“Okay, fine, I wanted him to be, like, we’ll do this together. Instead, I got...he was sweet but clearly torn. He can’t let his family down. And he and I only had one weekend together, Harry.”
“Sometimes that’s all it takes,” he said.
“It wasn’t enough for the guy who fathered me,” she said. “Please don’t tell Mom I said that. But really, that complicates everything. I’ve always thought I was okay with the fact that I don’t know who he was, but this baby...” She put her hands on her stomach. “It’s making me realize I’m not.”
Harry didn’t say anything. And after a few minutes Emily looked away from him and back to the foot traffic on the street near her house. What could he say? He was her substitute dad who’d stepped up when he didn’t have to. Harry must have thought that she was making a mess where there didn’t need to be one.
“I get it, kiddo. It’s hard to not want the best for your baby. We all do that,” he said. “Try to fix the problems in our past so that our kids don’t have to experience them.”
“Did you do that for Rita and Danny?” she asked. Harry had two kids who were both more than fifteen years older than her and lived in Chicago. They came down for two weeks each spring to visit Harry.
“I tried. But I ended up making my own mistakes and they have done the same. It’s all a part of being human,” he said.
“I’m getting Zen Harry this morning,” she said. But his positive attitude helped take her mind off Rafe and the sadness she’d been feeling.
It wasn’t that she’d expected anything else from him, but that she’d wanted something more. She shook her head as she realized that what she’d wanted was to be wanted.
For him to want to stay with her.
It was unrealistic, but a girl could dream.
“Well, I do have all this wonderful advice and no one to share it with,” Harry said with a wink. “You’ll be okay, kiddo. You’ll make decisions and choices and some of them are going to be fabulous and others you’re going to regret. But I do know one thing.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“You’re going to love that baby of yours, and in the end that’s all that really matters.”
“You think so?”
“I do. Your own mom did that for you. Look how you turned out,” he said.
“Not bad,” she admitted. She liked her life. She could have followed her mom into a similar career—she was a marine biologist—but Emily liked being on the land and not out at sea. She had a degree in hotel and restaurant management and one day hoped to open her own place. She knew she had a good life, but a part of her still missed Rafe.
Another part of her knew she just missed the idea of Rafe. So far every time they’d been together they’d ended up in bed. It wasn’t as if he was even a friend.
She wanted that picture-perfect family that she kept in her head. She wanted that for this baby she was carrying. She didn’t want her child to have the piecemeal family that she did. No matter that she loved her mom and Harry fiercely. For her child she wanted more.
And being the bastard of a European king probably wasn’t what her child would want. She was going to have to be very protective. Raise the baby to know its own strength and place in the world.
She noticed Harry watching her, realized she wasn’t alone and that made the loneliness she felt when she thought of Rafe a little less painful.
* * *
Alma was breathtakingly beautiful. The island was surrounded by sparkling blue seas and old world charm seemed to imbue every building. They’d landed at a private air field and were driving to the royal palace in the urban capital of Del Sol.
Rafe had heard there was a lively nightclub scene and before Emily’s visit had sort of thought of checking it out. But now that he had the dual mantle of monarchy and fatherhood hanging over him, he figured he should rethink that.
Del Sol was even more striking than the black and white photos he’d seen in the albums his tia Isabella kept. While there were modern buildings dotted throughout the city many of the old buildings remained. Tia Isabella had been a young woman when she’d been forced to flee Alma with the rest of their family. When Rafe and his siblings and cousin had been growing up they’d been entertained by her stories. Tia Isabella had spent a lot of time talking about the old days and what it had been like to grow up on Alma. But Rafe thought he understood why his grandfather hadn’t talked that much about it. Rafe would have been sad to leave this homeland, too.
As the royal motorcade made its way into Del Sol, Alma’s capital, people on the streets craned their necks to get a glimpse of the Montoros. Rafe was used to a certain level of fame and notoriety in Miami, but not this. There he was one of the jet-set Montoros. The young generation who worked hard and played harder.
Here he was the future monarch. He’d be the face of Alma to the world. And while his ego was sort of jazzed about that, another part of him wasn’t.
“Maybe you should put the window down and do that princess wave,” his sister Bella said with a sparkle in her blue eyes. Their father and the rest of their party were in a separate vehicle.
“Princess wave? That’s more your cup of tea,” he said. “Maybe I’ll throw up the peace sign.”
She giggled. He’d always been close to his little sister, and making her laugh helped him to relax.
Bella looked like a fairy-tale princess with her pretty blond hair. Not anything like Emily. He wondered what Emily would think of Alma. It was an island not that unlike her hometown of Key West, but the laid-back attitude in the Keys was a world away from this charming European nation.
For a country that had been ruled by a dictator for decades, the people in the streets seemed happy and prosperous and the buildings were clean and well-maintained. Rafe didn’t see any signs of financial ruin. But economic danger lurked whenever there was a change of regime. And if there was one thing he was good at, it was making money.
But would the government here listen to him?
To be honest he wasn’t the kind of person to negotiate for what he wanted. That was one of the reasons Montoro Enterprises had thrived under his leadership. He made bold decisions. Sometimes they didn’t pay off, but most of the time they did.
“You okay?” Bella asked.
He started to shrug it off. There was no way he was going to mention Emily or the fact that she was pregnant to his sister. Not until he had a chance to figure it out for himself. But the family stuff was also getting to him, especially how Juan Carlos was going really crazy about protocol and proper image and all that.
“This return to Alma is throwing me,” he admitted to her.
“How?” she asked. “You’ve always handled whatever the family has dished out. This will be no different. Pretend you’re the CEO of the country.”
As if. Being the king was a “name only” position. No power. Maybe that was why he hesitated to fully embrace it. He was a man of action. Not a figurehead.
“Good suggestion,” he said, glancing out the window as they approached the castle. Surrounded by glittering blue water on three sides, it rose from the land like a sand castle at the beach. He groaned.
“What?”
“I was hoping the castle would be in disrepair.”
“Why?”
“So I could hate it.”
Bella laughed again. “I love it. It’s everything I thought it would be,” she said.
“What if there’s not a hopping club scene? Will you still love it then?” he asked. Bella liked to party. Hell, they all did. They hadn’t been raised to assume the throne. They were all more likely to show up in the tabloids in a compromising position than on the society pages at a formal tea. The closer he got to the throne the less sure he was that he wanted to be there.
He felt Bella’s hand on his shoulder. “You’re going to be fine. I think you’ll make a great king.”
“Why? I’m not sure at all.”
“You’ve been a great big brother and always ensured our family’s place in business and in society.”
“Business is easy. I understand that world,” Rafe countered.
“I never thought the day would come when you’d admit that you aren’t sure of yourself,” she said, taking her phone from her handbag.
“What are you doing?”
“Texting Gabe that you have feet of clay.”
“He already knows that.”
“We all do,” Bella said. “Why are you acting like you are just figuring it out?”
“I’m going to be a king, Bella. It’s making me nutty,” he said.
“You weren’t as thrown by it a week ago,” she said. “What happened yesterday to make you delay your flight?”
Nothing.
Everything.
Something that could change the man he was. If he let it.
“Business. Running Montoro Enterprises does take a lot of time,” he said.
The car pulled to a stop and an attendant in full livery came to open the door for them. Bella climbed out first but looked back at Rafe.
“Lying to me is one thing. You can keep your secrets if you want to,” she said. “But I hope you aren’t lying to yourself.”
He followed her out of the car, and the warm Mediterranean air swept around him. She had a point. He knew in his gut that this didn’t feel right. He should be in Miami with Emily. He missed her.
The porte-cochere led to an inner brick-lined courtyard. There was a fountain underneath a statue of Rafe’s great-grandfather Rafael I. He was surprised it hadn’t been torn down when the dictator had taken over. Bella stopped walking and spun around on her heel, taking in the beauty of the palace.
For the first time he felt a sense of his royal lineage settling over him. If their family hadn’t been forced to flee he would have grown up in this palace. His memories would be of this place that smelled wonderfully of jasmine and lavender. Where was the scent coming from?
His father came up beside him and put his hand on his shoulder not saying a word. Something passed between them. An emotion that Rafe didn’t want to define. But Alma became real to him. In a way that it hadn’t been before. In Miami it had been easy to say he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be king but seeing this palace—he felt the history. And he sort of understood Juan Carlos’s perspective for once. Rafe didn’t want to let down their family line.
If Alma wanted the Montoros back on the throne than Rafe would have to put aside the feelings he felt stirring for Emily and figure out how to be their king.
That surprised him. He hadn’t expected to feel this torn. He was isolated from the rest of his family who seemed to think this return to royalty was just the thing they needed. They were all caught up in being back in the homeland. But as much as he felt swept up in the majesty of their return to Alma he knew he was still trying to figure out where home really was.
* * *
Emily worked the closing shift at Harry’s and walked home at 2:00 a.m. Key West wasn’t like the mean streets of Miami, but she moved quickly and kept her eyes open for danger. It was something she’d teach her kid.
She was starting to find her bearings with this pregnancy more and more as each day passed. Being a mom was going to take some getting used to, but as her own mom had said, she had nine months to make the adjustment.
Her cell phone vibrated in the pocket of her jeans and she reached back to pull it out. Glancing at the screen, she saw it was an international call. She only knew one person who was traveling internationally right now. She did some quick math and figured out that it was early morning in Alma.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Red. Figured you’d be getting off work. Please tell me I didn’t wake you.” Sure enough, it was Rafe.
“You’d think you’d be more careful about disturbing a pregnant woman’s rest,” she teased. She didn’t want to admit it but she’d missed him. Three days. That was all it had been since she’d seen him, but it had felt like a lifetime. His voice was deep and resonated in her ear, making her feel warm all over.
“Well, maybe I did call the bar earlier to determine if you were working tonight,” he admitted.
That sounded like Rafe. He was a man who left little to chance. “What can I do for you?”
“How are you feeling?” he asked. “How’s Florida?”
“I’m feeling fine,” she said. “I have had a little bit of morning sickness, and it’s not just limited to mornings. I’ve been getting sick midafternoon.”
She saw her house at the end of the lane and got her keys out. She’d left the porch lights on and it looked so welcoming. The only thing that would be better was if Rafe was waiting for her. And to be honest, as he talked to her on the phone, it was almost as if he was there with her.
“Makes sense since that’s when you wake up,” he said. “Is there anything you can do to help that?”
“No,” she said. “It’s not too bad. How’s Alma?”
“Nice. You’d like it. It’s all sand and sea for as far as the eye can see and quaint little villages. Not as laid back as Key West but still nice.”
“Any places to go paddleboarding?”
“Not yet. Why, do you think you’d move here and start a business?” he asked.
It was the closest he’d come to suggesting that she be near him in the future, and she felt numb even contemplating it. She had her own plans to open a restaurant around the corner from Harry’s. Not to be Rafe’s hidden mistress in some far-off European country.
“Not at all. I’ve got a place picked out for my future restaurant,” she said.
“Is that what you want to do?”
Once again she realized how little they actually knew of each other’s lives.
“Well, I can’t be a bartender forever.”
“I guess not. Tell me about your dreams,” he said.
She thought she heard the sound of footsteps on a tiled floor on his end. “Where are you?”
“Not ready to share that much with me?” he asked, countering her evasion.
In a way she wished they were playing a game. It would make everything easier. She could concentrate on winning and not really have to think about the emotions. But the truth was she was tired and still a little unsure of what she was doing. Sure, just hearing Rafe’s voice made her feel not so alone. But she didn’t want to allow herself to become dependent on him.
Not to turn her life into one big sob story, but usually when she started to feel comfortable with someone they left. It wasn’t that they abandoned her, just moved on and left her to her independent self. Even her mom and Harry. And she didn’t want that with Rafe.
“Nope. I want to hear about Alma. I read a little online yesterday. Seems like the change of regime is going to have a big impact on the economy. I know you are good at making money. Is that why they chose you and your family to come back and lead the country?” she asked.
“Our family ruled the country before the coup that installed the late dictator, Tantaberra. That’s why we were chosen. But my parents are divorced so Dad, who would be next in line, can’t assume the throne. They want someone with the right pedigree and the right reputation.”
“Um...I’m guessing if they found out about me that could put a wrench in things.”
“Possibly. I’m not going to deny you exist, Emily.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Would I be on the phone with you if I didn’t care?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said honestly. “We’re strangers.”
“Who are about to be parents to a baby,” he said. “Let’s get to know each other. And while we have half the world between us maybe I can talk to you without being distracted by your body and that sexy way you tilt your head to the side. You always make me forget everything except wanting to get you naked.”
Her breath caught as she sank down into the big armchair where Rafe had sat the one time he’d been to her place. They’d made love in the chair and she felt closer to him now. She tucked her leg up underneath her and let those memories wash over her.
“Red? You still there?”
“Yes. Dammit, now you’ve got me thinking about you naked.”
“Good. My evil plan worked,” he said. “Tell me something about yourself.”
“What?”
“Anything. I want to know the woman who’s going to be the mother of my child.”
She thought about her life. It was ordinary: nothing too tragic, nothing too exciting. But it was hers. “When I was six I thought if I spent enough time in the ocean I’d turn into a mermaid. My mom’s a marine biologist and we were living on her research vessel, The Sea Spirit. She made me a bikini top out of shells and sent me off every day to swim.”
“I’m glad you didn’t turn into a mermaid,” he said with a quiet laugh.
They talked on the phone until Emily started drifting to sleep. She knew she should hang up, but she didn’t want to break the connection. Didn’t want to wake up without Rafe.
“Red?”
“Yes?”
“I wish I was there to tuck you into bed,” he said.
“Me, too,” she admitted. Then she opened her eyes as she realized that she was starting to need him.
“Good night, Rafe,” she said, hanging up the phone before she could do anything stupid like ask him what he’d wanted to be as a boy. Or to come back to Key West.
Four (#ud4afa1ee-3426-5d08-b5d6-7090015dc2e2)
Rafe secluded himself from the rest of the family in the office area of the suite of rooms he’d been given. The deal he’d struck for Montoro Enterprises to ship Alma’s oil was taking a lot of his time.
Alma was a major oil producing country to the north of Spain. Montoro Enterprises would be shipping the oil to its customers in North and South America where the bulk of their business interests were. It made good business sense but he also wanted it because he’d get a chance to explore the country of his ancestors. When he’d first done the deal he’d anticipated his father becoming King not himself.
Plus truth be told, he’d been so focused on work because he was avoiding his family and the coterie of diplomats who seemed to be lurking whenever he stepped out of his suite. He didn’t want to talk about his coronation or about the business of running the government. Yet.
But sitting around and hiding out went against the grain, so he’d been working nonstop. He hadn’t shaved in the three days, and Mozart had replaced Jay-Z and Kanye on the stereo because no one would ever be tempted to stop working and rap to Mozart. He hadn’t even contacted Emily, though he’d thought of her night and day.
She was an obsession. He knew that. He had the feeling that if he were in Miami maybe it wouldn’t be as fierce, but he was far away from her and thinking of her was nice and comforting in the midst of this storm that was brewing around him.
He banged his head on the desk.
“I can see I’m interrupting,” Gabe said as he entered without knocking.
“I’m working.”
“Yeah, I noticed,” Gabe said, nodding toward the empty cans of Red Bull that littered the desk and the floor. He walked to the window and pulled back the drapes.
Rafe blinked against the glare of the sunlight. “What time is it?”
“Four in the afternoon. You’re expected for dinner tonight and if you don’t show up Juan Carlos is going to have a stroke. I know he’s been a pain lately with all this royal protocol, but we don’t want our cousin to have a stroke, do we?”
Rafe shook his head. “No.” He scrubbed his hands over his face. His eyes felt gritty and the stubble on his jaw felt rough. He was a mess. Truly. “This sucks.”
Gabe laughed that wicked, low laugh that Rafe had heard women found irresistible. He just found it annoying.
“Yeah, it does. Not so cool being the older brother now, is it?”
Not at all. “I should walk away...that would leave you holding the bag.”
A fleeting glimpse of panic ran across his brother’s face. “Dad would disown you. I’m pretty sure the board would fire you from Montoro Enterprises. Then what would you do?”
Run away to Key West.
Seemed simple enough, but to be fair he wasn’t sure what type of reception he’d receive if he just showed up on Emily’s doorstep.
“I think I’m too American to want to be a royal, you know? Maybe Dad still wants it, but it feels weird to me. I don’t want to be called ‘Your Majesty’ or ‘Your Highness.’”
Rafe watched his younger brother. If there were the slightest sign that Gabe was interested in being king, Rafe would just walk away and let his brother have it. But Gabe rubbed the back of his neck as he paced over to the window. “Me neither.”
“Then I guess I’d better stop acting like a jerk and get out there,” Rafe said. “What’s the plan?”
“Dinner with some supporters. And a family who’d love for you to meet their daughter,” Gabe said with a wry smile.
Rafe shook his head. He’d do his duty to his family, but he was already involved with a redhead who wouldn’t take kindly to him catting around. He was getting to know her, starting a relationship with the woman who was going to be the mother of his child. What if she didn’t feel possessive toward him the way he did toward her? And he did feel possessive. Emily was his. “I’m not interested.”
“Are you interested in someone else?”
“It’s complicated, Gabe.”
“I never thought I’d see the day when you said that. Is she special?”
“She could be,” Rafe said. Or at least that was what his gut was saying. The rest of him wasn’t too sure.
Once his brother left and Rafe had wrapped up what he was working on for the day, he started getting ready for the state dinner. When he got out of the shower, he saw that he had a text message from Emily.
It’s official. Just got word back from the doctor’s office. I’m due in January.
Would he be able to get back to the States in January?
Being with Emily would mean giving up the monarchy... and possibly his job, depending on how much it pissed off his family. Montoro Enterprises and Alma were now all linked together. Could he walk away from one without walking away from them all?
But what kind of man walked away from his own child?
Not one that Rafe wanted to be. He knew that but as he’d said to Gabe earlier, it was complicated.
He braced his hands on the bathroom counter and looked into his own hazel eyes searching for answers or a solution. But there was nothing there.
And that really pissed him off. He needed to take control of his personal life the way he did the boardroom. No more doing what everyone else wanted unless it fit with his own inner moral compass.
Except that he’d been a playboy for so long he wasn’t too sure he had one. Everyone had one, right? Then shouldn’t the answer be clearer than this?
When he was finished shaving, he took the towel off his hips and tossed it at his image in the mirror before he walked into the bedroom to dress.
He hit the remote for his sound system and switched from Mozart to “The Man” by Aloe Blacc . He stopped in his tracks. Right now it seemed as if everyone had a piece of him and the man Rafe had always wanted to be had been lost.
He knew what he had to do. No use pretending he was going to do anything else. It wasn’t that he thought the path would be easy, but then when had he ever taken the easy path? It was simply that spending time with his siblings made him realize that family was important to him.
His mind made up, he grabbed his phone and began typing, hitting Send before he could have second thoughts.
I’ll be there. When is your next appointment? I’d like to go with you if I can.
He owed it to himself and to his child to at least see if he could be a real partner to Emily. And be a real part of the baby’s life.
Really? Okay. If you do this then I don’t want you making promises you can’t keep.
That right there showed him how little she knew of him. Hell, what did he know about her? He knew how she looked in his arms. He knew that she had wanted to be a mermaid when she was little. He smiled at that one. He knew she was having his baby.
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Katherine Garbera
Тип: электронная книга
Жанр: Современные любовные романы
Язык: на английском языке
Издательство: HarperCollins
Дата публикации: 16.04.2024
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О книге: One night leads to the pregnancy surprise of a lifetime in this novel from USA TODAY bestselling author Katherine Garbera…Tapped to become king of his family’s ancestral homeland, hotshot Miami businessman Rafe Montoro needs a break from the pressure. A night with Key West bartender Emily Fielding is just the ticket—until weeks later, when she shows up pregnant!Emily wants her child know its father, though as an “unsuitable commoner,” she doesn’t want to block Rafe’s ascent to the throne. Still, there’s that unrelenting chemistry between them that won’t be denied. Will Rafe have to choose between love and country after all?